


Lost Dreams

by Blue_fantasy



Series: Lost Dreams Series [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Roll Out, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Bloodline - Claudia Gray, Star Wars: Lando's Luck, Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternative Universe - Bloodline (Star Wars), Alternative universe - rise of kylo ren, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Galactic Republic, Han Solo tells dad jokes, Happy Ending, Millennium Falcon - Freeform, Murder, POV Ben Solo, POV Han Solo, POV Leia Organa, POV Rey (Star Wars), Parent Han Solo, Post-Coital Cuddling, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Slow Burn, Space Mom Leia Organa, Star Wars Roll Out - Freeform, what if they were always force-bonded
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:21:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23089267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_fantasy/pseuds/Blue_fantasy
Summary: The Galactic Empire has been defeated. The New Republic endeavors to maintain peace and justice throughout the galaxy.Two families take drastic measures to protect their Force-sensitive children from their ancestors’ dark legacies.Ben Solo, the son of Senator Leia Organa and General Han Solo, is sent off at the young age of 10 to train with his uncle, the war hero Luke Skywalker, in his New Jedi Order with the hope of protecting him from a sinister presence that has haunted him since the womb.Rey, the daughter of former Royal Imperial Academy cadets with Force-sensitivity and a dark family secret, is born deep in the jungle of Takodana. Upon her birth, she is bonded by the Force to 10-year-old Ben Solo. When she is 5 years old, Darksiders find her family, forcing them to flee the only home she has ever known. Her parents leave her under the protection of a small village on the planet of Jakku with instructions to get her to Luke Skywalker.A series of events leads Ben, now a reluctant Jedi apprentice, on a search for the little girl in his dreams, eventually causing his parents to reevaluate the decisions they have made and how they have impacted their family.
Relationships: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren & Han Solo, Chewbacca & Han Solo, Kylo Ren/Rey, Lando Calrissian & Han Solo, Lando Calrissian/Rinetta Gan, Leia Organa & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Luke Skywalker & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey (Star Wars) & Voe (Star Wars), Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Lost Dreams Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1800763
Comments: 88
Kudos: 178
Collections: Kudos folder





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Writer’s note: This is an exploration of how the canon story would change if Rey had been taken in by the Organa-Solos at the age of 5. Elements of a variety of canon sources are woven into the story including The Rise of Kylo Ren comics and information revealed in The Rise of Skywalker.
> 
> Timeline Note: For reference - Ben is born in 5 ABY. Rey is born in 15 ABY. Starkiller Base is unveiled in 34 ABY (events of TFA).
> 
> Feedback is so appreciated. Please let me know what you think.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at sapphire-reverie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey's family goes on the run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to michellespenscratchz for her help reworking this chapter. Go check out her fics!
> 
> Your kudos make my day. Your comments are fuel for my writing.
> 
> Come say hi on Tumblr @sapphire-reverie
> 
> Minor edits made for more clarity on June 29, 2020

__

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**20 ABY**

“We need to secure her safety. She is not safe with us.”

He saw the panic in his wife’s hazel eyes, red and swollen from hours of crying from the realization of this truth. His beautiful, gentle, loving wife. It was like a knife through his heart to see her in all this pain. Pain caused by him. By who he was.

And who was he now? All his life he had struggled to be accepted by the man he thought was his father, failing miserably in his attempts. And when he finally realized he would never be able to be what his father wanted. When he finally struck out to make a life of his own, a family of his own, that was when the truth had come to find him, to find his daughter.

And now he sat in the cockpit of their little beat up transport, looking hopelessly into his wife’s eyes across from him in the co-pilot chair as the blue of hyperspace glowed beside them through the transparisteel canopy, their 5-year-old daughter asleep in the solitary extra-wide bunk of their ship just meters away.

They had just barely escaped with their lives, leaving their warm cozy little home and life behind. A little life they had worked so hard for since their escape from the Galactic Civil War, their escape from both the empire and the rebels. He had been a boy of sixteen in his first year at the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant when he heard the word of his father’s death. Rather than feeling sorrow, he felt hope. He felt an opportunity. He felt a chance for freedom. Freedom to choose his own life.

It had been during his escape from Coruscant when he met her. She had been pressured into the Academy by her parents who were exhausted dealing with a Force-sensitive teenager. That is what drew him to her. He remembered the way the hair on the back of his neck prickled as he approached the shuttle in one of the academy hangars amongst the chaos of the news that the Emperor and Darth Vader had perished on the second Death Star near Endor.

They both stopped at the ramp leading to the transport, staring at one another, waiting to see what the other would do. She was beautiful with a determined expression on her face. Somehow, someway, he knew they needed to get on that ship together, they needed one another and, in unison, they ran up the ramp, into the cockpit, and took off.

Through their journey to find safety and security, they fell in love, eventually marrying and making a home in the Western Reaches on Takodana, a planet known for its neutrality where they could find some relative safety from both the rebels and the last gasps of the Empire.

It was in those early days on Takodana when he had finally opened up to her about the truth of his family. He had to finally tell her so she knew why they couldn’t go join the rebel forces in those final battles, why they couldn’t go participate in the New Republic that was forming out of the ashes of the Civil War, why they couldn’t answer the call of the New Jedi Order, joining other force-sensitives.

Their life together for the last 16 years had not been easy by any measure, but it had been happy and peaceful. And when their little ray of sunshine had entered their life, well, that happiness felt complete.

They kept to themselves, in their little home in the forest, away from the cities but close enough to the castle to trade and find quick work with smugglers when needed. They were also able to keep tabs on the news of the galaxy, to catch wind of any sign they might need to leave.

They kept their daughter hidden, never bringing her near civilization, for fear someone might recognize him and in turn know how valuable she was. As he grew older, he knew how much he looked like his father and began hiding and obscuring his own face as much as possible. There were many-centuries-old beings passing through Maz’s castle that knew his father or his father’s likeness before he became Emperor. Before the dark side had ravaged the former Naboo chancellor’s body, turning him into the grey evil monster his estranged son knew from his childhood. From his nightmares.. Of his nightmares.

He should have known it was just a matter of time. Earlier that day, as it so happened. He had never personally spoken to Maz, never thinking she knew who he might be. He could tell she was a Force-sensitive but never thought she paid him any mind. So it froze him in his place when she greeted him as he entered the castle.

“You,” she pointed up at him with a long orange finger. “Over here. Now.” She turned, curling that same finger beckoning him to follow her to a booth in a more secluded corner.

“I’m sorry. Did I do something wrong? I think you have the wrong person,” he told her with hesitancy and fear.

“No, I have the right person and you have done nothing wrong other than being your father’s son.”

He slumped down into the seat across from her slack-jawed, pulling his scarf up to hide his face from the view of others in the main hall.

“Hiding your face now will only lead to more suspicion.”

“How--when? How?” he stuttered at her.

“I knew you and your wife were strong with the Force the first time you entered my castle a decade ago. I thought not much of it because many Force-sensitives have sought refuge in the forests of this planet. But then I began hearing rumblings from both rebels and former Imperialists of the disappearance of the Emperor's son. I hadn’t even known Palpatine had a son. No one did. So I dismissed it as crazy talk.” She waved her lanky hand in the air as if shooing a pest away from her meal.

“Eventually, the buzz died down,” she continued, her eyes examining his face through her magnified goggle-like lenses. “So I thought not much else of it. Until…” She looked out at the crowd as her sentence drifted off.

“Until? Until what?” he asked her, panic flashed across his face.

In a much softer and quieter tone, she replied, “until Darksiders came looking for you.” She leaned back in her chair, hands clenched to the end of the armrest as if she had completed an arduous task.

Fear began to rise up inside of him. He could taste bile at the back of his throat. They had always worried about Imperialists angry over his desertion or covert assassination attempts by the New Republic. But he had failed to account for the Sith, believing the death of Darth Vader had fulfilled the prophecy bringing balance to the force. 

He could feel himself shaking. This was no longer about him. He could not appease the Sith by simply turning himself over, allowing his wife and daughter to escape without anyone knowing they exist. The Sith will know he has a daughter and they will do anything to get a hold of her for her potential powers.

“I have seen the Dark Side taken on many forms throughout my life,” Maz said to him in a hushed voice as she leaned in closer to him. “The Empire may have fallen, but the Dark Side is gathering in a new form. Your daughter will play an important role in this new war to come. You must get her to those that can prepare her. Leave Takodana. A friend of mine has secured you temporary safe shelter in the village of Tuanul on Jakku. There you will find other Force-sensitives who will protect your family until you can figure out your next move. You must go now. You must protect your child.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This stranger was protecting him. He felt a wave of gratitude with an undercurrent of doubt and suspicion. Could he trust her? But he knew he could. He could feel the Force telling him to trust her and to go.

“Th-th-thank you,” he stuttered as he scrambled up from his seat. She only nodded at him, blinking her magnified eyes slowly.

“I have seen the same eyes in many people over my lifetime. I know you fear you will be like your father,” she said, grasping his hand in her own, looking into his eyes. “You do not have the same eyes as your father.”

Upon his return to their home in the forest, he could feel the dark side closing in on them. Only having enough time to pick up his daughter and convey their urgency through the Force to his wife, they ran through the forest to where their transport was stashed. He could feel the darkness crowding in on them. It wasn’t until they were securely in hyperspace heading to Jakku that they finally spoke to one another.

“I know she is not safe with us. I think I know who may be able to protect her. Let us get to Tuanul and regroup, then I will find a way for us to contact him.”

“Him?” she questioned. He continued to hold her gaze. Oh, him. She projected into his mind, a thought wrapped in fear and desperation

“Luke may be the only person strong enough to protect her from the dark.”.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She awoke in an unfamiliar bed with sheets that smelled familiar, like her parents. She was alone. She felt a panic bubble up in her chest at the strangeness of her surroundings with no one to comfort her. She could sense fear nearby and a darkness not far beyond that. Hot tears began to spill over and down her cheeks.

Suddenly, she heard the hiss of the door and her mother entering in a rush to embrace her.

“Sh. Sh. It will be OK. We are right here with you. It is OK,” her mother told her as she rubbed her back, calming the fear out and away from her body. “Just lay back down and try to get some more sleep. You will need your rest before we get where we are going.”

She listened obediently to her mother, resting her head back on the pillow, her mother curling up beside her brushing her fingers through her hair. She rubbed her hand on her mother’s bicep in a soothing manner. It always made her feel better to rub her hand on her mother’s arm and know she was right there. She could also somehow tell that this made her mother feel better as well.

Soon, she drifted back off to sleep and found herself stepping onto a green grassy hill, an old domed building made of stone in the distance. She felt someone nearby and turned to the side to find an older boy sitting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He had a full head of thick black hair with ears that just poked through. He had long skinny limbs and could probably be as tall as her father.

As she took a step toward him, his eyes flew open, looking directly at her. They were deep dark brown eyes the color of father’s morning caf. There was a sudden flash in his eye, a subtle change in expression and he continued to gaze at her.

“It’s you,” he exclaimed as if he had seen her before or had been waiting for her.

He held out his hand toward her, palm up, encouraging her to reach for it. She stepped closer, reaching out her hand. Just as she felt her finger graze his own, she felt a sudden tug from behind and was yanked away as if she was zooming off the planet and into deep dark space.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“I saw her again today, Master.” He was following his uncle around the grounds of the temple. He could tell his uncle’s attention was elsewhere, but he felt this desperate need to speak with him about the girl. He kept seeing her during meditation and in his dreams. The sightings were getting more real, more intense and he needed to understand what they meant.

“Mmhmm.” His uncle responded, still preoccupied with whatever he was searching for in the grass.

“We touched. During my meditation, I reached out to her and she touched my hand.”

Still nothing more than a grunt from the man in front of him, now on his knees with his hand reaching into a hole beside a boulder.

“I could feel her. I mean, physically and emotionally. I could feel her fear. I could feel the darkness around her.”

Luke snapped his head up toward his nephew, concern and worry flickering in his eyes. “You saw darkness around her?”

“Yes. She was afraid like something dark was following her. Like she wasn’t safe.”

Luke stood upright, shoulders back and looked straight into his nephew’s eyes. “Do not engage with her again if you see her. She could be a trick, the dark side trying to pull you in.”

“But, Master, she feels so real. She is just a little girl, no more than five or six. It is just so real and I can feel the Force in her, I feel the pull toward her.”

“No more. Do not engage. Trust me, Ben. Leave it be.”

He watched as his uncle wandered back toward the temple, holding an attachment belonging to Artoo that must have broken off while the younger padawans rough-housed with the droid.

Ben could feel his anger welling up inside. Anger towards his uncle’s lack of attention and lack of an open mind. This girl had to mean something and he felt a need to better understand it.

 _Let that anger build. He knows nothing. He cannot help you. He cannot teach you._ The words of the strange yet now familiar voice echoed in his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben is homesick at the Jedi temple. Rey says good-bye to her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to michellespenscratchz for her help reworking this chapter. Go check out her fics!
> 
> Your kudos make my day. Your comments are fuel for my writing.
> 
> Come say hi on Tumblr @sapphire-reverie
> 
> Minor edits made for more clarity on June 29, 2020
> 
> Update 3/18/2020: After reading The Rise of Kylo Ren, I made some adjustments to this chapter in the segment from Ben's POV. I've added the other teenage padawans from Luke's temple.

__

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

Furious, Ben stomped back toward his quarters, grabbing a long thin log from the woodpile.  _ Yessss. Use that anger. Feed off of it. Feel the power building inside you. He has no idea how strong you are.  _ The voice continued to urge him on, increasing the fury bubbling up in his chest.

As he passed through the doorway and stood in the middle of his space, he raised the log with two hands ready to strike down onto his bed to release the fury, when suddenly he heard a beeping sound, breaking the dark spell hanging over him. It was his mother trying to reach him through his holoprojector. 

He shook his head as if trying to wake himself out of a bad dream and then looked up at the log he was holding over his head. Eyes wide, he slowly lowered the firewood and dropped it to the floor, finally realizing he was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he gathered his composure to answer his mother’s call.

“Mother, h-how are you?” he asked breathlessly.

“Hi, sweetheart,” she paused as the image of her son through the holo began to register, noticing his breathing. “Did you just get in from exercises?” 

“Oh, um, yah,” he responded looking down at the wood on the floor, warmth rising up through his neck and cheeks and ears at the lie he had just told his mother. Thank goodness the holos were notoriously bad at color replication.

“How nice. I’m sure your uncle is appreciative to have you to work with after a day of lessons with all those little padawans,” Leia laughed. He imagined his mother trying to picture her own brother as some sort of primary school teacher.

“Something like that,” Ben mumbled in response, looking down at the toe of his shoe twisting into the ground.

“What was that, dear?”

“Nothing.”

“Anything you ever have to tell me is never nothing, Ben.”

“I know, Mom,” he glanced back up at her holo.

“So how have you been settling in? What are the other children like?”

He rolled his eyes imagining his mother hoping he would make fast friends.

“I saw that, Ben Solo.”

“Sorry, Mother.” He said looking back down at the ground. "The other students are fine."

"How is Tai? That is the boy you get along with pretty well, right?"

"He is fine."

“How are you sleeping?” She always asked him this, every time they talked, every time they saw each other. He knew all her worries and concerns from his entire young life were wrapped up in this one loaded question. The same question his father asked every time they were together. While he knew his father only wanted a terse one or two-word response, his mother wanted it all, as much information he would be willing to share about everything hidden away in his mind.

“OK,” he stated slowly, stalling to gather his thoughts to give her a more satisfying response. As he ran back through his day, the little girl’s fear-stricken face floated across his mind. “The girl. She-”

“A girl!?” she exclaimed in a happy hopeful question. The realization of her misunderstanding made him squirm with discomfort. He had always been a solitary kid, preferring to be alone over the company of the other kids at school. It was not that he didn’t desire companionship, a friend. It was more because no one seemed to understand him and it was easier to just be alone rather than make an effort to fit in. 

And as for girls, well, that was a hopeless cause. What girl wanted an awkward gawky weird boyfriend like him? Even if he had held out some small hope that he may meet another awkwardly Force-sensitive kid who happened to be a pretty girl here at Luke’s temple, he was sorely disappointed looking down at the pack of knee-biters surrounding him. There were other padawans around his age, including Tai. The only girl was Voe, who was pretty, but he was pretty sure she hated him.

“No, Mom, the girl.”

“Oh,” Leia stated in a neutral tone that let him know she was ready to listen to him without judgment, without dismissal. His mother had always understood him better than anyone in his life. When they were together, her Force signature was like a warm blanket wrapping around his mind. He had let her see the girl in his mind ever since she first began appearing in his dreams as a baby five or so years ago. 

He was ten-years-old when it happened for the first time. He remembered waking up to a baby crying. It was the middle of the night and he’d been so disoriented, wondering why there was a baby in their home. Had his mother brought home another war orphan to foster until they found her a permanent home? Had Uncle Lando arrived to visit in the middle of the night with his baby girl?

He began to walk through all the rooms and hallways searching for the source of the crying and as he headed back to his room, his mother was there in the hallway ready to check in with him, to listen to him, to hug him, her concern thinly masked as she tried her best to help him process what was happening.

It was not too long after this that his mother sent him to train with Luke. For the last five years, he had watched this little girl grow in his dreams in a small home deep in a wild forest, always feeling like more of an observer. And he had shared this with his mother, hoping she could help him make sense of it all.  As he became more skilled in his Jedi training, she became more real and solid in his mind. Before long he noticed that she seemed to see him as well, and soon the two felt each other's presence even beyond his slumbering dreams.

But her emotions, he could always feel her emotions. Sometimes they were so strong, he thought they might be his own. When she was happy, it helped to calm and soothe his usual anxious self. When she was upset, he felt this strange sense that he needed to take action, anger building inside because he was powerless to help her.

About a year ago, her emotions began to mellow a bit more, happiness dominating his visions and senses of her. That is why his latest interaction with her concerned him so much. He felt a deep fear and could sense darkness in the Force around her. This is what led him to try and talk about it with his uncle. This is also why he was so angry with his uncle. He was afraid for this girl. He knew deep down she was not a figment of the dark side. She had to be a real living girl somewhere out there in the galaxy and the Force had chosen to link her to him.

“She has been coming to me during my meditations. Today, we actually touched. I can still feel where her finger touched mine even now, more than an hour later.” He paused in his flow of thoughts to allow his mother to respond.

“Ben, what do you think it might mean? Do you think your training is strengthening your connection?”

“I think so. Maybe. But, I think something happened to her, something she is fearful of. And for the first time, I could sense the dark side’s presence around her, like it was following her or something.”

“Oh, Ben,” his mother said in a gentle worrying tone. ”And you feel a need to protect her, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer right away, feeling silly that he should be so concerned about a girl he never met whose name he didn’t know, whose location he didn’t know. “Yes. Yes, I do. And I know that seems crazy but--”

“It does not seem crazy, my wonderfully sensitive and caring boy. You have such an empathetic heart and you have watched this little girl grow through your dreams,” she paused as if pondering something. “It is as if she has been your anchor to the light while this other voice in your mind has tried to anchor you to the dark.”

“That’s why I’m so worried about the darkness around her.”

“Have you talked to your uncle about her?”

“I tried but as soon as I mentioned the darkness, he told me not to engage her, that she may be a trick.”

He could see his mother shake her head and put her face in her palm. “Oh, Luke.”

“He just won’t listen to me. It is like he is afraid of something.”

“He has had a tough life. He just doesn’t want you to have to fear the things he has had to fear.”

“Mom…”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“I’m not sure if this is where I should be.”

“Oh, Ben, we’ve been through this. Luke is the best person to prepare you to face the darkness you struggle with,” Leia paused, contemplating how much more to tell her son. “When I was about your age, I remember feeling distant from my parents, as if they were ashamed of me. Your grandmother was having lavish parties and your grandfather was gone all the time. But they weren’t ashamed of me. I discovered they were working for the Rebellion. All the parties were a cover for Rebel activity and my father was away fulfilling his role as a leader in the cause. They didn’t tell me for my own safety. They were doing it all for the hope of a better future for me. Your uncle has similar reasons for the decisions he makes when it comes to you.”

“I know, mom but you listen to me. You understand me better than anyone. And Father doesn’t think--”

“Ben, I have heard what you said and will consider it. We are not discussing this at this time. Give it another year and then we will reevaluate the situation.”

“But--”

“Ben, dear, I have to go. Senate will be back in session soon. Your father should be coming to visit in the next few weeks. He had found some more of those old books you like.”

He took a deep breath of dread at the thought of another uncomfortable visit with his father. Ever since he hit puberty, their relationship had become so weird.

“I love you so so much. You are my light, my love. May the Force be with you.”

“May the Force be with you,” Ben grumbled back as the holoprojector flickered off. He always hated to see her go, to end their conversations. They never felt long enough.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She squinted her eyes shut as the bright desert sun struck onto her face through the opening transport ramp. As her eyes adjusted, all she could see in front of her was a field of beige, like she was a tiny insect walking out onto the surface of one of her father’s delicious panna cakes. She felt her mother on her left and her father on her right give her hands a reassuring squeeze.

“The village is not too far from here, just over that dune. Let’s get Rey secure in that place and then we can head into the trading post for supplies,” her father said to her mother.

It was an arduous hike over the dune. She had never felt anything like walking through sand. For each full step forward, she sunk back a half a step. At first, it was a wonderment, but as the sweat began to drip down her face and the sun began to bake her skin, she was over the whole experience. Halfway there, her mother pulled off one of her scarves and wrapped it around her head and covered her face leaving a small slit between layers for her eyes.

Finally, as they crested the hill, Rey could see the small village, a collection of mismatched tents and no one really milling about, but who would choose to be out in this sun when they could be in the shade of one of the tents?

A figure emerged from the center most, large tent. She had long grey hair swept up in the desert wind, skin the color of caramelized carbosyrup and was dressed in pants and a tunic clearly made from a light breathable material to stave off the heat of Jakku. Lifting her hand in a welcoming motion, she gestured for her family to enter the large tent.

“Welcome. My name is Sasha. I am the pastor of this congregation,” she spoke in a gravelly voice, dried from decades of desert living. “And this is my granddaughter, Little Sasha.” She placed her arm around the back of the little girl next to her who couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Rey.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” her mother said to the older woman. Then she placed her arm along with Rey’s shoulder blades in a similar fashion. “This is Rey.” It was the first time Rey had ever seen another child. She was frozen with amazement. Her stare was broken when Little Sasha grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a small blanket in the corner of the tent where a bunch of little hand-sewn dolls lay strewn about.

The girls sat there together for what seemed like forever, imagining a make-believe world for the little dolls, as her parents spoke quietly and intensely with Little Sasha’s grandmother, occasionally looking over at Rey. She could feel her parents' emotions of fear and sadness as they spoke. But old Sasha was different. She could not sense her feelings in the same way.

Eventually, her mother and father walked over to her and crouched down at the edge of the blanket.

“Sweetheart, we are going to the Outpost to get some supplies before we go settle into our tent. Grandmother Sasha will look after you and you can keep playing with Little Sasha.,” her mother said in a tone that was reassuring and nervous at the same time. She gave her a big hug as Rey continued to hold a doll in each hand. “Love you,” she whispered in her ear.

Her father gave her a tight hug from the other side and said, “Oh my Rey of sunshine, I love you so. We will be back soon.”

Rey watched, fixed in her spot with a doll in each hand, as her parents ducked out of the tent, her mother looking back at her with a smile as she slid between the flaps. A sense of dread washed over Rey like this moment was significant and she should memorize it, imprint it to her brain. Feelings of sadness, anger, and loneliness all washed over her like waves crashing onto rocks.

She could hear a pat pat pat like raindrops dripping onto the stiff fabric of the front of her tunic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey's mother and Leia deal with the decisions they have made that parted them from their children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to @michellespenscratchz for her help in reworking this chapter. Go check out her fics!
> 
> Your kudos make my day. Your comments are fuel for my writing.
> 
> Come say hi on Tumblr @sapphire-reverie
> 
> Minor edits made for more clarity on July 14, 2020
> 
> UPDATE 3/18/2020: After reading The Rise of Kylo Ren, I have made some timeline adjustments in the segment from Leia's POV.

__

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She was shaking as she clung to her husband, the small speeder the villagers had given them racing them to Niima Outpost, her tears absorbed into his tunic. Her body, every part of her, was telling her to jump off and run back toward Tuanul, back to her daughter, the light of her life, her Rey. But she knew if she did that, the darkness would find her and in turn find her little girl. She had to keep telling herself this was for her protection, to save her life. She could feel her husband wrapping around her mind to comfort her through the Force.

They needed to get off Jakku as soon as possible. If the Darksiders caught up with them here, Rey was as good as gone. Shivers ran down her spine at the thought of what he might do to her if he ever got his hands on her.

She had felt the Darksiders’ presence closing in on their little cabin on Takodana just before her husband came charging in, whisking them off to their transport. And while she couldn’t feel them here on Jakku, it was only a matter of time.

Once in Niima Outpost, they found the junk trader Old Sasha had mentioned. They bartered with the blowfish-looking alien Unkar Plutt for the few necessities they were short on, including a bottle of whiskey that she was going to need to numb the pain of leaving her daughter behind. They headed to their transport and she found herself in the pilot seat, tears streaming from her eyes again. She was still fighting the urge from every bone in her body to run down the ramp and back to her child. If her husband hadn’t been sitting right beside her, his hand resting gently on her thigh, rubbing soothing circles into her leg as it shook uncontrollably, she would have already had her little Rey back in her arms.

As they left the atmosphere of the barren desert planet, she reassured herself that they were doing the best thing for their daughter. She hoped one day in the not-too-far-off future, they’d be reunited with their strong little girl, who would know how to protect herself with the Force and would be strong enough to fend off her grandfather or whatever he was to their family.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

It was no use.

She had been sitting in her office at the Galactic Senate swiping through page after page of proposed legislation on her datapad, backtracking every few minutes or so each time she realized the words were not registering in her mind. All she could think about was her earlier holo chat with Ben, the sense that something wasn’t quite right. He had seemed genuinely worried about the girl in his dreams. She worried about him, that he might lose this connection to the light that seemed to keep him balanced over the years.

She’ll never forget the time he first felt the girl’s presence. She woke up in the middle of the night and could feel his anxiety, so she got up and waited for him by his bedroom door rather than chasing her willful and independent son around their home. As he returned down the hall, he was rubbing his ears and shaking his head. When he noticed her standing there in the dark hallway, she asked if she could hear the baby crying. She felt horrible having to say no, not wanting to make him feel even crazier on top of the voice he had been hearing since he was a child. Now, he was hearing other things through the Force.

It wasn’t until the next morning that he came to her, allowing her to see into his mind. There in the memories of his dream from the night before, she saw an infant, swaddled in simple brown cloth, cradled in the arms of a woman with large hazel eyes, sweat dripping from her chestnut hair, a sign that she had just given birth naturally without any medical assistance. The woman only had eyes for the bundle in her arms, a wide smile filled with relief across her face.

At first, Leia thought her son might be seeing his future. His wife. His child. But over time Ben let her know that he could see the girl's father in his dreams. Based on his description, he looked nothing like her son with his prominent features that she knew he would not outgrow but hoped that he would rather grow into them.

As the years passed, he told her more about the little girl of his dreams. He talked about her with affection, sharing moments he had glimpsed. She seemed to be a spirited child full of energy and happiness. A child of adventure, climbing up trees at a young age and chasing after small forest creatures out of curiosity, fearless of their bites. Her adventures in the forest had led Ben to ask if they could take a family trip to a forested planet. Leia and Han did try to take Ben off-planet for breaks from his Jedi training, hoping they could reconnect as a family. It wasn't always successful and on this specific trip, he spent much of his time hiking by himself as if searching for something, but it had been nice to get off of Nakadia for a while.

Leia could always tell when Ben was seeing the girl more often in his dreams because she could feel his Force signature lighten up, feel the darkness he battled fall away for a while. She began to worry less about his connection to this little girl and what it might mean because she had such a soothing and positive effect on him. Sometimes it would be weeks before Luke would tell her he could feel Snoke’s presence in his mind again.

Snoke. He was both Ben’s nightmare and hers as well. Early in her boy’s life, possibly as far back as in the womb, she realized there was a dark presence in his mind. At first, she thought it was just a natural part of the way the Force manifested in many of the Skywalkers, an ever-present abstract haze of darkness. It wasn’t until Ben was around the age of three that she realized it was something more, something trying to steal their boy from them. Someone.

Ben was struggling to get along with other children in the childcare room in the Senate building. He was such a sensitive boy that when another child innocently picked up a toy he was playing with or wouldn’t play the way he wanted to, she could feel the darkness surrounding his Force-signature. One day his reactions to these incidents began to scare the other children, sending them running from him in tears. Feeling his distress, she ran from her office to console him. 

She found him standing in the room, separated from the other people, anger and sorrow struck across his face, fists clutched at his sides. As she approached him cautiously, she reached out through the Force to touch his mind in an effort to soothe him. And as he let her in, what she heard brought her the greatest fear of her life.

_ None of those children will ever understand you. You are alone. Not even your mother can protect you from them. _

She remembered scooping up her son in a tight embrace, cradling his head up against her chest with her hand, kissing his hair and whispering gentle words. “Shh, it will be alright. I’ve got you, sweetheart. I love you. I’ve got you, Ben. I’m right here.”

Over the years, Ben had opened up a little to her about the voice in his head. There were some very dark times in his childhood, especially when she would take him to official Senate events. She began to realize he could read everyone’s mind and wide range of opinions about the Solo family were being broadcast like a cacophony inside his head. These moments of frustration would trigger openness to the dark side and allow Snoke to increase his communication with him. It took him weeks to open back up to her after that.

But then this little girl entered his life and it seemed to help. She seemed to counteract the darkness that this Snoke creature brought to her son.

Still, the same year the little girl arrived in his mind, Leia realized he needed more training in the Force, training to control and keep the darkness at bay. And while her logical side of her brain told her this was the best decision for Ben, her emotional side was screaming at her to bring him home.  Han had opposed the decision from the start, and now between missing her son and the strains on her marriage, Leia felt more sadness and doubt creep into her mind every day.

And while she had told her brother about Snoke, she had left it to Ben to tell his uncle about the girl. Now she was realizing Luke may need to hear it from her.

She was reaching for her comm when her assistant came through the door.

“Um, excuse me, Senator, there is a comm coming through for you. The man is very insistent. He says it is of grave importance.” Her assistant looked at her worriedly as if she was going to be scolded for interrupting.

“Who is he?”

“He said his name is Lor San Tekka. He said you know him?”

It was a name she hadn’t heard in a few years. He had been vital to the establishment of the New Republic and its efforts of outreach to less traveled systems. He was quite the explorer, racking up as much mileage as her husband over the decades--but where Han traded in smuggled goods, Lor dealt in history, knowledge of the past and cultures of the present. In those early days of the New Republic, he and Luke had sat up until the wee hours of the morning discussing Jedi lore at the Solo family’s dining table.

“He’s an old friend of the family. Patch him through.”

“Lor San Tekka, it is good to hear from you. It has been too long.”

“Princess, thank you for speaking with me.”

“Of course, any time old friend, though I feel my brother may enjoy hearing from you even more than me.”

“Ah, well, I am actually hoping to speak with both of you. I could not reach him and you seemed a bit easier to get a hold of, having an official governmental office.”

“Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

“Well, um, there is some news relating to the church.”

She could hear the hesitancy in his voice, a feeling of uncertainty and a lack of trust, not in her but possibly having to do with the security of their comm link and the sensitivity of what he needed to say.

“Lor, let me comm you back in a little while.”

“Thank you, Princess,” he responded with relief.

She took off under the pretenses of a lunch break and headed back home. Making her way to the secure comm station she and Han had set up and hidden behind a panel in their bedroom, she commed Lor San Tekka.

“Again, Princess, thank you for taking the time to speak with me.”

“Please, call me Leia. And of course, I would speak with you. You have always been trustworthy and deserving of our time and attention. So what is this all about?”

“There is a little girl who needs protection,” he paused. She could hear him take a deep breath and then continued. “Her grandfather was deeply involved with the Sith and her parents fear her safety. They have left her under the protection of the Church of the Force in the hopes that we will get her to Luke under his protection.”

Leia leaned her head down over the counter of the comm station, squeezing her eyes tight. She let out a deep breath as well, one she hadn’t even realized she was holding in.  She and Han had taken in a handful of war orphans and runaways over the years, but they had never lasted long with Ben in the house. And now that Han was galavanting around the galaxy, at odds with her, she wasn’t sure she was ready to take on a new one by herself.  Luke, on the other hand, was seeking Force-sensitive kids to join his New Jedi Order. But this kid may not qualify.

“She is strong in the Force, Leia.” He added after her hushed silence on the line.

This girl’s story was beginning to resonate with her like no other child’s story and she had a feeling Lor knew it would. But there was something in the back of her mind that worried her about sending Luke to retrieve the girl. While her brother had a self-deprecating sense of humor that she loved, he lacked social skills at times, especially when it came to connecting with little kids.

With determination, she responded, “Lor, we can take her in. Give me the details and I will work out the logistics.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He needed to find her and to do that, he needed a ship, a fast ship. His shoulders hung down as he took in and released a deep breath. He knew exactly how to get the ship he needed but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to forgive the pilot of this said ship for abandoning him here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE 3/18/2020: After reading The Rise of Kylo Ren, I made slight adjustments to the timeline of how long Ben had been training with Luke.
> 
> Your comments and kudos are so appreciated and keep me motivated. I've got a lot of time on my hands being a teacher and stuck at home so I hope to write a chapter about every two days.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She knew Mama and Papa were gone. She knew they weren’t coming back. She had seen this in a dream. She has seen herself laying on a bedroll in a dark tent next to a little girl sleeping soundly. No, it was her nightmare, the one she had before they left Takodana. As this realization came to her, she noticed her pillow was wet with tears. Wait, this was no nightmare. This was real. She bolted upright.

“Mama! Papa!” she sobbed, tears now streaming over her cheeks. She felt like her heart might be torn from her chest, its beats racing faster. She sucked in the sob she had just released with a loud gasping noise, feeling like she might not be able to catch a breath. She was shaking. The ground was shaking. The tent was shaking.

As she let out another vocal sob, everything in the tent seemed to have gone silent, even the desert sounds outside the tent. Then, she saw him in the dark corner of the tent, the boy who had visited her dreams as she had visited his since she can remember. Her Force angel, as her mother called him. Seeing him there with her helped to calm her sobs. He stood up from a meditative pose like the one she had learned from her parents and walked slowly over to her. 

Before leaving Takodana, she had never interacted with him. He always seemed to be watching her from afar and she did the same. Then he spoke to her in her dream on the ship. And here, he was coming closer. As he approached her, she could see in the dim of the moonlight peaking through the tent opening that he was wearing the same clothes she always saw him in: a simple light-colored tunic that went down just to his knees, white fabric wrapped around his arms underneath, a dark leather belt around his waist with dark pants and white boots. He always wore these clothes like a uniform of sorts.

He sat down next to her bedroll. Her sobs began to trail off as her breath hitched as she fought to stop the heaving of her chest. He was looking right into her eyes, his own filled with sadness and worry like the look her parents had as they walked out of the tent, never to return.

 _At least you are still here_ , she thought.

 _I am,_ she heard a boys’ voice in her head. Her eyes grew wide, her pupils surrounded completely by the whites of her eyes. Was he speaking to her? How? He hadn’t moved his lips.

 _You can read my thoughts,_ she pushed out toward his mind like Papa had shown her when they had secret surprises for Mama.

 _Yes and you can read mine,_ he paused. He raised his hand toward her cheek but stopped just before touching her. _You’ve been crying, a lot. You seem more unhappy than ever before. What’s wrong?_

 _My mama and papa had to leave. They are gone. We left our home,_ she explained as the tears began falling again, his thumb sweeping across her cheek to catch them and as he touched her, everything went dark. He was gone. She felt alone again, as the symphony of nighttime sounds came rushing back into the tent, the two Sashas still sleeping soundly around her.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

He opened his eyes to the soft light of the lantern in his room, still sitting in his meditation pose. Rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, he felt something wet and brought it up to look closer. Were these her tears? How in the--?

And then it all came rushing back to him, her utter sadness, her loneliness, her fear, her words. 

_My mama and papa had to leave. They are gone. We left our home._

Her words echoed in his mind. Why had they left her? Why did they leave their home? It had always seemed like such a happy, beautiful, peaceful place. He had always been a bit jealous with his dreams of her in his mind as he remembered the crowded greyness of Quarrow, the place his family called home on Nakadia since he was a baby. What could have been so terrible to frighten her family from the safety of their home, to cause them to leave her somewhere strange without them?

_At least you are still here._

Was he really all she had left? Him? Just a ghost-like vision of a stranger in her dreams? What was the Force trying to tell him by connecting them? Ever since he felt a dark presence closing in on her, he had been meditating on this over and their connection seemed to be getting stronger, more vivid. He looked back down at the teardrops on his fingers. Yes, this was getting stronger. Maybe the Force was calling on him to do something.

He had made a few feeble attempts to find the girl over the years, most notably the awkward family vacation to Endor. He knew she was in a forested place and Endor was an easy enough place to convince his parents to take him since it was where they had been married. But he knew as soon as they entered Endor’s atmosphere that she probably wasn’t there.

But she always seemed happy and he never searched for her out of any sense that she needed to be rescued or protected. He simply did it to try to solve the mystery of who she was and why they were connected. Now though, he felt something deep inside, like the Force was screaming at him to do something, to act.

He needed to find her and to do that, he needed a ship, a fast ship. His shoulders hung down as he took in and released a deep breath. He knew exactly how to get the ship he needed but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to forgive the pilot of this said ship for abandoning him here.

_He did abandon you because he never truly wanted you in his life. You do not need to forgive that man. Forgiveness is a weakness._

He shook the dark voice out of his head. He needed to put up walls around this mission in his mind. He had a feeling if the darkness following him knew he was trying to help this girl who seemed to be his only beacon of light at the time, he would try to convince him to do otherwise.

He grabbed the comm off the table by his bed and went out to sit on the rocks by the creek, a place he found peaceful, away from his uncle’s prying mind. A place he could talk with his father about leaving the temple without worrying Luke and in turn, his mother.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

The Wookiee was shouting at him to pick up the comm. Again.

“I know. I know. I just don’t have time to argue with her at the moment.” He shouted back, his shoulders raised to his ears, hands gesturing in front of him toward his co-pilot, palms up, fingers spread apart.

Chewie shouted at him again in Shyriiwook, turning to face him, tilting his head forward with encouragement.

“It is definitely not Ben. That kid wants nothing to do with his old man,” Han relaxed his posture and turned back toward the transparisteel viewport, his lips pressed tight in a sad off-centered downward expression.

His friend took a gentler tone with him, setting his furry hand on Han’s shoulder to reassure him, but continued to press the issue.

“Alright. Alright. I’ll answer it,” he Han threw up his hands and then pointing a finger right at Chewie, “but if it is Leia and I end up in even deeper bantha crap with her, I get to take some shut-eye first on this run.”

His friend nodded in agreement as he took the comm.

“Dad, I need your help.”

“Ben,” Han looked over at Chewie, eyes wide with surprise. Chewie just laughed righteously and said _I told you so_ in Shyriiwook. Han rolled his eyes at his friend. “It’s great to hear from you, kid. Chewie sends his regards.”

“Hey, Uncle Chewie,” his son’s voice crackled over the rough comm link. He could hear a warmth in Ben’s voice that was directed toward the Wookiee, a warmth that was absent when his son spoke to him. It served to add another little fracture to the growing crack in his heart.

Han had always known his best friend had an easier time bonding with everyone around them. Heck, that was part of what made him such a valuable partner, what with his own abrasive personality. He never quite understood why he had so much difficulty getting along with others, but he had hoped his own son would be different. Well, he wasn’t. And here he was back out wandering through the galaxy, avoiding his wife who he couldn’t seem to get along with for more than a few minutes and his son who seemed ashamed to have him as a father.

But here he was, comming him. Seeking him out for help. It was like Ben had just thrown out a lure and he wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to be reeled in for some time with his son that wasn’t being forced upon the boy.

“Whaddya need help with, kid?”

“I need a ship. Or...actually I need a ride on a ship. Or, I mean, I could help pilot the ship if--”

“Ben, you know you can’t leave the temple right now. Your mother would be furious and I’m not about to get in more trouble with her by being the one to take you outta there.”

“No, Dad, I don’t want to leave, well, at least not at the moment. I need to find something or actually someone,” he was pleading now. No annoyed tone in his voice, just a genuine call for help.

“Well, that’s a relief, but I wouldn’t know how to explain taking you off-planet to your mother and Luke.” This conversation was not going the way he had hoped. He was having to disappoint his son left and right.

“Mother said you were on your way to visit, that you had some books for me. Couldn’t we just call it bonding time?”

You’re killin’ me, kid, Han thought to himself. This is what he had been waiting for these last few years, for his son to actually want to spend time with him, to need him. He rubbed the heels of his fists into his eyes and dragged his fingers down over his face. He let out a sigh. “So who are you trying to find?”

“The girl.”

“The girl? Wait, do you want me to take you around the galaxy to meet girls? ‘Cause, Ben, you got time, kid. You don’t need to be jumpin’--”

“No, Dad. _The_ girl. The one I see in my dreams,” his son stated with exasperation.

“Oh, right, that girl. Why the sudden need to find her? Haven’t you been seeing her in your dreams since you were ten?”

“She’s in trouble. I think something is after her. And she is alone or at least she is with strangers now. Her parents are gone.”

“Aw, kid. I just don’t know about this. This is like trying to find a needle in a--”

“I can find her through the Force. We are connected somehow and it seems to be getting stronger.”

“Like Luke finding your mom or like your mom finding Luke back during the war. That kind of thing?”

“Something like that.”

“Alright, kid. I’ll think about it and try to figure out what we’re gonna tell your mom and Luke. Chewie and I should be there in one standard day so hold tight and stay calm.”

“Thanks, Dad. Thanks so much,” Ben said in a tone that was so unusual for him as if he was smiling as he spoke the words. And Han had made him smile, maybe. He’d take it. He’d take any bit of happiness he could bring to his boy. He just wished he knew how to do it more often.

“See you soon, Uncle Chewie.”

The Wookiee growled a farewell to the boy and the comm link ended. Then the Wookiee spoke to Han.

“I don’t know how we are gonna do it, but we are gonna get that kid off-planet somehow and give him a break from all that Jedi mumbo jumbo," Han answered.

Chewie nodded and roared in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just finished reading The Rise of Kylo Ren and I am currently reading Bloodline since it overlaps with the time period I'm planning to write. I am attempting to keep as much as I can of the canon that wouldn't be affected by Rey being found in a different way from TFA. I know there are many of you out there who have a wealth of Star Wars galaxy knowledge and any feedback or suggestions related to continuity or anything for that matter are welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You are not safe here. We are very exposed in the desert. On this planet. And there is no one here with the--,” she hesitated, “with the ability to protect you from the danger that has been following your parents. This man and his friends can offer you the type of protection you need.”
> 
> She could feel the tears welling up again and she fought to keep them from spilling over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments and kudos are what keep me going. I really hope you are enjoying this story. Thanks for reading!

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

Her finger hovered over the comm button. She was frozen in place, nervous, like that 20-year-old rebel girl afraid to express her true feelings about the smug scoundrel who followed her everywhere in that station on Hoth.

A smile spread across her lips and she shook her head with a laugh. What an idiot that girl was. That man was already so in love with her by that time but they were both so stubborn. They had both lived lives by that point that had caused them to learn how to put up walls and not rely on anyone else. Leia felt that old warm feeling again in her chest thinking about her husband, the man she still loves no matter how much they argue, no matter how far apart they are, no matter how long they are apart.

She clicked the comm button. There was an immediate connection.

“Han, I need your help.”

“Well, that makes you the second family member today to ask for it,” she heard him reply, imagining that smirk on his face. Maker, did she miss the way he would smile at her.

“What do you mean? Does Luke have you on some crazy chase for old Jedi stuff?”

“No,” he chuckled. “Not quite. What do you need, sweetheart?”

She was still curious about what he meant by family needing help but decided it could wait until they discussed a more pressing matter.

“Han, I need you to find a girl.” He could hear Han and Chewie both chuckling with one another over the comm. “What is so funny?”

“Nothin’. A girl, huh?” Again, she could hear that smile.

“Yes. You remember Lor San Tekka, Luke’s old friend from the Church of the Force?”

“Yeah, I remember that oddball. He was a historian of some sort, right? Liked to travel around digging up ancient artifacts.”

“Somewhat. Well, he contacted me about a little girl who is under the care of his church and needs protection from the Sith.” She braced herself for Han’s possible dismissal of what he referred to as Force mumbo jumbo.

“Sith. I thought the Sith were gone, you know, when you know who died.” She heard the hesitancy in his voice, like an old reflex, fear of dredging up sore subjects.

“I thought the same but between Snoke and now this request from Lor, I’m beginning to think they were never truly gone.” There was a silence between them for a bit. “Han, I’m not just worried about this girl. I’m worried about Ben.”

“I know. I know. I am, too.” He said to her in a completely serious tone she rarely heard from him.

“This girl’s grandfather was deeply involved with the Sith and her parents are trying to get her to Luke for protection,” she explained.

“Why can’t they take her to him?”

“Because they are being tracked by Darksiders. They have already separated from her. She has no family right now. The _Falcon_ is the fastest ship I could think of to get to her and you and Chewie are the only pilots I trust with this mission.”

“Huh, this story sounds familiar?”

“I know, right. I can’t help but think of the sacrifice Bail Organa made for me.”

“Yes, that, but there is something else,” he spoke slowly as if lost in thought. “So where do you need us to go? How do we find her?”

“She is on Jakku in the Western Reaches in a village called Tuanul. The church pastor there is a woman named Sasha. She has been caring for the girl. She knows you are coming.”

“Oh, so you assumed I would accept your mission.” She rolled her eyes at his comment.

“I knew you would because you would want to help an abandoned child. I knew you would because if it was our son that needed to be saved, you would hope there would be someone like us out there to help him.”

“Ok. I got it. Speaking of our son, he asked me to take him on some wild chase around the galaxy. Maybe this mission to save this girl would be a good break for him from the temple and we could spend some time looking for the girl from his dreams.”

“He talked to you about her? He wants to go find her?” Leia knew her son was worried about that girl but didn’t realize it was enough to be willing to spend an extended amount of time with his father in tight quarters.

She remembered the last time Han and Ben were on the _Falcon_ together. It was last year after Han picked him up to spend some time with her on Nakadia. 

_Standing to greet them at the hanger, she watched as Ben stormed out of the boarding ramp before it even touched the ground, brows furrowed in anger, his brown eyes dark, face flushed, red ears poking through his scraggly jet black hair. His arms were stiff, straight down at his side ending in fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white. He brushed past her and she turned to follow him with her gaze for a moment._

_As she heard footsteps following down the ramp, she turned to greet her husband with a scowl._

_“What did you say?” she had growled at him._

_Han in his usual fashion shrugged with his hands out, palms up. “I-I just-I thought it was time to have the talk with him.”_

_Her face softened from a look of anger to a look of exasperation. She shook her head as she raised a hand to her forehead and gripped her temples with her thumb and fingers, squeezing her eyes shut._

_“What? He’s fourteen, Leia. We-”_

_“We should have discussed our approach with him on this topic together.”_

_“Well, maybe we could have if you answered my comms.”_

_“Oh, if I answered your comms? I think you have that the wrong way ‘round.”_

She remembers the whole interaction turning into another argument in front of their son, about their son, followed by Han turning back up the ramp and disappearing out into the galaxy. She was trying so hard to keep this family together but each time she felt they had made a positive step forward it wasn’t too long before it felt like two steps back.

“Are you sure about this, Han?” She asked him, trying to gauge if he fully understood what weeks in tight quarters with his moody teenage son might mean.

“Of course, and I’ve got Chewie here to keep me in check. No more sex talk. I promise,” he responded in his self-deprecating humor that she felt must have rubbed off on him from her brother over the years.

“Alright, since Ben is the one who is asking for this,” she ceded. “But Han, please, for maker’s sake, think before you speak with that kid. We want him to want to spend more time with us, not scare him away out of mortification. We need to try to understand him and if we can’t, at least show him some empathy.”

“I know, Leia. I know.”

“Thank you,” she paused, not sure if she should add the next thing she wanted to say to him, what she was feeling as they had this discussion. “I love you, you know.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“We shouldn’t be out here. My grandma says it isn’t safe,” Little Sasha told her worriedly as she trailed behind Rey in the sand, trying to keep up.

“We will be fine. This is just so cool!” Rey said, trying to reassure her new--her only friend, as she peeked into the underbelly of the old AT-AT. Somehow, she could feel that there wasn’t anyone around the old imperial wreckage laying on its side in the sand.

She needed this moment, this distraction or the dark sadness creeping around the edge of her mind might devour her. She was struggling to control her emotions in the wake of everything. She had lost so much so fast, she was struggling to process what this all meant. Her dream of the boy had brought some comfort but she never knew when she might see him again and their time together was never for very long. And while it did comfort her, he had seemed worried for her and that wasn’t sitting well.

So, when she had noticed the speck of something off on a distant dune while playing with Little Sasha, her curiosity took over and she let the other parts of her worried and scared mind shut down to enjoy this moment of newness, adventure, and discovery.

“Check this out, Sasha!” Her voice echoed through the cavity of the rusty old beast.

“I don’t know about this, Rey. It’s dark in there and we should be heading back so we don’t miss supper. They’ll send out a search party for us and then we’ll be in trouble,” she said to Rey, wringing her hands together and looking out and about to make sure no one else was there.

Rey took a deep breath and one last look of fascination into the dark hollow of the heap of metal just waiting to be explored. As she released her breath, she decided she would need to come back here with a light of some sort.

“Alright,” Rey said, the disappointment thick in her tone, her shoulders slumped. Little Sasha put her hand out for Rey to take, a big smile on her face. It brought a small bit of warmth to her chest for someone to smile at her like that, like how only her parents or the boy in her dreams had ever smiled at her before, like someone who cared about her. She grabbed Little Sasha’s hand and as they crested the dune, they ran down together laughing all the way back to the village.

When they returned, it was dusk and Grandma Sasha had food prepared and waiting for the girls. Rey was famished. Unlike her life with her parents were they ate three meals a day and she could always find something to snack on in the forest, here in the desert they rationed their food, which wasn’t quite food at all in her mind. They had a small meal in the morning and a small meal at dusk consisting of some crispy protein cooked up over the fire and a type of instant bread. 

Just as she was thinking she wasn’t sure she could last very long on meals like this, Grandma Sasha spoke to her. “Rey, I know you are still missing your parents and this is a very confusing time for you. We have found the person your parents know can protect you. Some of his friends will be coming to bring you to him.” She stopped speaking, gauging Rey’s reaction to this news.

Rey stopped chewing for a moment, looking into Grandma Sasha’s eyes and then to the little girl sitting across from her, the new and only friend she ever had. “Why can’t I stay with you?" she asked with a mouth full of bread.

“You are not safe here. We are very exposed in the desert. On this planet. And there is no one here with the--,” she hesitated, “with the ability to protect you from the danger that has been following your parents. This man and his friends can offer you the type of protection you need.”

She could feel the tears welling up again and she fought to keep them from spilling over.

“They will be here sometime over the next few days so you and Sasha must stay very close to the village. In general, the desert is not a safe place for little kids like you. It is especially dangerous for you.”

Rey’s chin began quivering. She was losing her new friend and she couldn’t explore the discovery she had made. She was once again being placed with strangers. Panic and fear were beginning to bubble up from every part of her body. She could feel the ground beneath her begin to shake and as the old woman reached out to comfort her, she jumped up and ran into the tent, burying herself in her bedroll, crying herself to sleep, calling for her mama and papa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was able to work in a nod to Indiana Jones. Did you catch it?
> 
> I am currently reading Bloodline and listening to the audiobook for Lost Stars. Both are giving me fascinating insight. Bloodline is helping me with the Leia/Ben storyline and Lost Stars is actually giving me an informative look into life at the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant around the time that my version of Rey's parents would have been students there.
> 
> Take care, all. Stay safe.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben began to feel that old feeling again, the one he used to feel when his dad was teaching him how to fly the Falcon. It was a warm feeling that emanated from his chest, a combination of happiness, pride, and love. Rare emotions for Ben to feel nowadays, here at the temple, away from his parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Your comments and kudos keep me motivated. Always love reading your feedback.

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Ben liked a challenge. While many of the apprentices stuck with the most common forms in their lightsaber combat training, Ben made things harder for himself. He often despised his treasure hunting trips with his uncle but when they came back with books and holocrons, especially ones containing information on combat forms, he would steal himself away in the temple library and pour over everything he could find.

He had quickly mastered the basic forms like Shii-Cho and Soresu. But it was Vapaad that fascinated him most. Where Soresu was a more defensive form, Vapaad was aggressive and unpredictable and Ben had felt a connection with many of its historical practitioners: Jedi who struggled with the dark.

Unfortunately, his uncle was not as keen on him exploring this form. So, Ben would disappear to his little spot by the creek to work on his darker forms, out of the watchful eye of Master Skywalker.

It was in the midst of this practice, that his fellow apprentice, Tai, found him. While many of the other students at the temple were much younger than Ben, over the last couple of years, Luke had brought on a handful of students closer to his age. It was something he dreaded, having never really gotten along with kids his age throughout his life. 

But Tai was different. He always seemed to know exactly what to say to pull Ben out of his shell, to get him to open up as well as to take time to contemplate things from a different angle. Tai never treated him like Luke Skywalker's nephew or the son of Han Solo and “the princess”. And he didn’t mind it when Tai found him in his spot by the creek.

“Trying to channel some Windu moves there, huh, Solo?” 

Ben spun to face his fellow apprentice, returning to a ready stance, the movements of his saber flowing into one another.

“You’re getting better at it. Your movements are getting smoother, harder to tell apart,” Tai observed as he got into a ready stance of Soresu. He was so like Ben’s namesake, it was no surprise that he would favor a form that had been mastered by Obi-Wan Kenobi. From every story Ben had heard growing up and every text and holocron he’d gotten his hands on, he could tell Tai was going to be a Jedi much like his uncle’s former master.

Tai gave a smile to Ben with a small nod signaling he was ready to spar. Ben only returned with a nod, maintaining his concentrated expression. As the two moved gracefully around one another in their combat exercise, Ben heard a familiar engine roar approaching from above. He felt a small bit of dread in the pit of his stomach. Lightsabers continued to cross and spin, the source of the engine roar coasted over their heads. Both boys recognized the ship and switched off their blades.

“You ready for this or do you want to wait here for a bit?” Tai could read him well. He had observed the scene last time that ship landed at the temple. He was the one who had found Ben sitting in his spot by the creek when no one else could find him.

Ben let out a long slow breath. “No, I mean yes, I-I was expecting him. I need his help with something right away so I need to be there,” he responded reluctantly.

“Well, then, what are we waiting for?” A big smile came across the other boy’s face as he led the way to the temple’s landing pad.

After hiking back onto the temple grounds, they came up over a hill to see the _Millennium Falcon_ resting there, ramp down, his father and Chewie getting swallowed up by a crowd of young padawans. Ben let out a groan and rolled his eyes. Tai glanced back at him with an empathetic look.

As they approached the landing pad, Ben hesitated, not wanting to get within earshot of his dad telling the same stories he had heard a hundred times before. He would sometimes spend an hour talking to the kids before he even greeted his son. A wave of embarrassment rolled over him at the thought of how his old man relied on his old war stories, no recent achievements in his life to be proud of.

_Not a role model for someone with your power and strength. You need a better mentor than this washed-up smuggler and that hack of a Jedi, Skywalker._

“Ben!” He heard his dad shout and shook the malicious voice from his head. Well, that was different. His father pushed past all the kids that were grabbing at his clothes. “Look, squirts, I can tell stories later. I got some things I gotta take care of.”

Ben stood in shock as he watched his father pass up the chance to relive his glory days and headed toward him. “Hey, kid, can we grab a bite to eat with you? Chewie and I are ready for some real food after a couple of months of ration packs.”

“Um, ya, sure,” Ben answered, still staring at his father, unsure whether he genuinely wanted to spend time with him first or if there was some other motive.

“Great,” his dad slapped him on the shoulder and gave his usual smirk, the one he’d cherished as a kid that told him his dad was happy with him. “You’re Tai, right?” Han gestured toward the other boy.

Tai nodded silently, smiling at the scene before him.

“Come on. You can join us,” his dad paused, glanced back at Ben as if to ask if that was alright. Ben nodded and shrugged a ‘why not’ back at him. As Han walked along with the other apprentice, he continued the friendly conversation “So, Tai, do you know what’s for dinner tonight?”

Ben began to feel that old feeling again, the one he used to feel when his dad was teaching him how to fly the _Falcon_. It was a warm feeling that emanated from his chest, a combination of happiness, pride, and love. Rare emotions for Ben to feel nowadays, here at the temple, away from his parents.

As Ben followed his dad toward the mess hall, he was suddenly wrapped from behind in a crushing embrace, loud rumbling Shriiwook growled into his ear.

“Uncle Chewie,” he strained through the tight squeeze across his chest. “Good to see you, too.” As the grip loosened, he felt his hair being tousled, a paw being rubbed into his scalp. He scrunched his face and crouched his head and shoulders a bit to escape some of the lovable noogie his Wookiee uncle continued to grace him with.

As Chewie lightened up the pressure, he roared a bit quieter to the boy he’d helped to raise.

Ben’s face ran flush upon Chewie’s question, his ears so warm they must have been bright red. “No, Uncle Chewie, there’s no girl. I don’t think the girls around my age here really like me anyway.”

Chewie roared an indignant response.

“I am not a good looking kid. I’m-I’m gawky and my ears are too big.” Ben put his hands up to make sure his scraggly hair was covering his ears. He was glad his Uncle Luke didn’t make this new generation of Jedi apprentices wear their hair short as the old order had.

Chewie growled another response.

“No girl my age finds that interesting. That just makes me a history nerd.” Ben quickly tried to search for a change of subject. “Have you been back to Kashyyyk to visit your family lately?”

His giant furry uncle began a long emotional response as they entered the temple mess hall. Relief washed over Ben as the focus of the conversation drew off of him.

After they filled their trays, his dad led them to a table off in the corner away from the bustling loud energy of the younger padawans enjoying their meals. Ben was relieved by this but also wondering what had gotten into his father.

By this point, Tai had engaged Chewie in a conversation to satisfy his curiosity about Wookie culture, Kashyyyk, and to practice interpreting Shriiwook. With their attention elsewhere, his dad leaned in across the table.

“How much does Tai know? Ya know, about the girl?” His father whispered, nodding his head in Tai’s direction.

“A little,” Ben responded and knowing why his dad asked, he added more. “He’s alright. We can talk about her.”

Han leaned back in relief as he scooped a mouthful of chili dumpling from his stew. Ben waited and watched for his dad’s reaction. Sure enough, after a couple of chews, Han’s eyes were watering and he was grabbing for his glass of bantha milk. A small smile graced Ben’s lips as he slowly scooped up a dumpling from his own bowl of stew.

“Whoa, I wasn’t ready for that. Wow!” His dad exclaimed. “But it’s good. It’s good. It’s been a while since I ate anything with flavor.” He gave a little cough and then continued to eat.

The spicy dumpling stew was one of Ben’s favorites. He had grown up on bland meals cooked by droids so when he got to the temple, he was pleasantly surprised. Luke had the students take turns cooking meals, each student brought with them favorite meals from their home planets, and most of them were full of flavor and spice. The food was one of the few things he liked about living at the temple.

“So,” Han began to speak, still chewing on his last bite, a habit he retained from his days living as an abandoned kid on the streets of Corellia. “Your mother will not be a problem.”

“What? Really?” Ben asked in surprise.

“Yeah, she actually commed me right after you did. Asked me to pick up a girl in the Western Reaches whose parents abandoned her,” his father explained as he continued to shovel food into his mouth. “Mmm. This is really good. Who made this?”

“Um, I think Voe brought it from her homeworld,” he answered. “Mother wants you to pick up an abandoned girl? Is she a war orphan or something?” His parents had taken in a handful of orphans and street kids over the years, call it empathy for his father’s upbringing. But ever since he went off to train with Luke, his parents spent less time together and their old home seemed less hospitable to a kid in need.

“An old friend of the family called in a favor. I guess this little girl's father or grandfather or somebody was involved with the you-know-whats,” his father gestured in the air with his hand and then continued to eat.

“What?” Ben asked out of genuine ignorance and curiosity.

His dad leaned in and whispered with his nose scrunched up and his teeth bare. "Sith.”

Both son and father leaned back in the chairs, eyes locked. Ben was floored. His mother was trying to save a girl from a family of Sith practitioners, from Darksiders. He quickly shuffled this information behind the wall in the back of his mind where he protected information about the girl in his dreams.

“So why do you think Mother is alright with me leaving the temple?”

“She needs us to get there fast,” Han gestured out in the direction of the _Falcon_. “And I guess this girl is strong in the Force so she thought you might be able to connect with her better than me. I thought since I needed to go find this girl that we might be able to look for your girl at the same time.”

“But why wouldn’t she just send Luke?”

“She thinks you need a break, kid,” his father set his fork down. “And I’d like to spend some time with my son.”

“What about Luke? He isn’t gonna like this."

“Your mom can handle Luke. You don’t need to worry about that.” 

Was he hearing this right? His parents were going against Luke and letting him leave on non-Jedi business. His parents were agreeing on something.

“Dad, are you serious?” He asked his father, wide-eyed with anticipation. “Am I really going off-planet with you and Chewie? I can look for the girl?”

“Sure thing, kid. It’ll be good to have another pilot pulling shifts on these long hauls.” His dad gave him a huge grin as he sat back and rubbed his hands on his stomach, indicating how full he was from the meal. It had been such a long time since his dad had looked at him like that. He returned the grin which seemed to make his dad smile even larger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was heavily influenced by The Rise of Kylo Ren comic. Just recently finished reading it to my son. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey closed her eyes. She could feel that there were no life forms nearby. “There’s no one here. Wait, what is that?” She pointed towards a glint of white inside the ship in the distance, exposed to sunlight through an opening above in the ship’s hull. In her usual fearless manner, she trudged through the sand on a mission to discover what that white object might be, her staff steadying her in the sand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Your comments and kudos are what keep me going.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“Seriously, Rey, this is so dangerous. I’m going to be in so much trouble with my grandma.”

Rey had begun to ignore Sasha’s worries. These were her last hours on this planet, only the second she had ever been to and she wanted to explore as much as possible. Plus, Sasha didn’t need to get on the speeder with her. She could have stayed back at Tuanul. She slowed the borrowed speeder to a stop in front of the expansive void of the imperial star destroyer. 

“Wow,” she slowly spoke as she raised her head up toward the top of the ship. She was awestruck at the size, especially knowing that she could only see half of it, the rest of the ruins buried under the sand. She slid off the speeder and grabbed her staff, the one her mother had made for her back on Takodana, one of the few things she had left from her parents. She wrapped her fingers around the grip her mother had fashioned on the sturdy branch of wood she had stripped of bark and smoothed down. Rey began to feel the heat build up behind her eyes and shook her head as if she could physically shake the mournful memory from the front of her mind.

She walked up to the gaping hole before her. She could hear Sasha follow behind her.

“Rey, we shouldn’t--,” Sasha's pleading faded out as she heard her voice echo into the cavernous ship, just as awed as Rey at its massive size.

“Hello!” Rey shouted into the ship just to hear her voice echo back. A huge grin spread across her face. She cupped a hand on each side of her mouth and shouted. “Echo!”

The girls stood together listening to Rey’s shouts gradually subside.

“This is amazing,” Rey marveled at the wreck. “There must be so many things I could salvage in here. I could probably even build my own droid! Dad and I worked on stuff together back on Takodana. We would fix up a lot of stuff that the pirates and smugglers would just toss away.”

“We can’t go in there. It is really dangerous. There are sinkholes, falling debris, and scavengers, like the Teedos. They really don't like it when someone else tracks across their territory,” Sasha shivered at the thought of the little reptilian creatures Rey had seen from a distance out on the dunes.

Rey closed her eyes. She could feel that there were no life forms nearby. “There’s no one here. Wait, what is that?” She pointed towards a glint of white inside the ship in the distance, exposed to sunlight through an opening above in the ship’s hull. In her usual fearless manner, she trudged through the sand on a mission to discover what that white object might be, her staff steadying her in the sand.

“Rey, wait!”

“Stay by the speeder. You can be the lookout. I just have to find out what that thing is.”

“Oh, I don’t know…” Rey ignored her friend as she progressed further into the star destroyer, Sasha’s worried sentiments fading off. 

As she made the long hike toward the spot of light ahead, she craned her neck to glimpse the massive ship surrounding her. She was in absolute awe. How did they make ships this big? How many people did this ship carry? How were there enough people in the galaxy to run a ship this large? Where did all the people go?

As she got closer, there were jagged parts of the ship reaching up out of the sand. Climbing around them, Rey reached out and grabbed a part to pull herself forward when suddenly she heard voices arguing. Looking around, she saw no one else.

Sirens were blaring out on the ship in a warning of some kind.

"You have to get off this ship now!" A woman shouted.

"I won't leave without you!" A man responded. She could feel their pain and desperation.

She released her grip on the piece of the ship jutting from the sand and the voices were gone. There were no sirens. Just the sounds of the wreckage creaking in the desert winds.

And then she saw it. There in front of her was such a beautiful sight, she wished Sasha could see it with her. She wished her parents could enjoy this discovery with her, like so many of their little discoveries back in the jungle.

There in front of her, growing in the sand, in the middle of the desert, in the belly of a rusting star destroyer was a flower as beautiful as the ones she would find in the jungle. The white blossom reached up toward the sunlight peeking through the hole above her. As she looked further on, there were more flowers. How did these flowers survive in this harsh environment?

Her curiosity got the better of her and she pulled a small leather pouch from her belt. Filling it with sand, she placed the flower and its roots inside, cinching the sack gently around the stem.

As she strapped the flower to her belt, a wave of a familiar presence came over her. It was similar to when she could feel her mother or father return from Maz’s palace or some other supply run. But this felt stronger. She stood there in the sand with her eyes closed letting the feeling wash over her. Was it her parents coming back for her? She could tell the presence was not malicious but it was too different from her parents to be them. Was it reaching out for her?

“Rey!” She heard the echoes of her name being screamed, bouncing off the walls around her, snapping her out of her reverie. She quickly turned to look back at her friend but she was so far away it was hard to see what was going on. She closed her eyes again and could feel other life forms at the end of the tunnel near Sasha and she could feel their malicious intent as she reached out.

“Sasha!” She shouted as she frantically tried to run through the sand to protect her friend.

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“Alright, kid, take us out of hyperdrive,” his dad told him as they approached Jakku. Like he didn’t already know, Ben thought to himself. He was dreading trudging around the desert planet, a planet he had learned a lot about in his early years of schooling. It was the site of the final stand-off between the New Republic forces and the last gasps of the Imperial remnants. He had loved his history lessons so the possibility of exploring Imperial wreckage was the only exciting prospect for their trip to Jakku. That and the slim chance the girl from his dreams could be there.

Ben rolled his eyes at his father’s unnecessary instructions as he pulled them out of hyperspace, looking directly at the sandy orange planet in front of them.

Almost immediately, he felt it. He felt her. It had to be her. What would be the chances that his girl and his mother’s girl were on the same planet? But he could feel her. Closing his eyes, he reached out through the Force toward what he felt was her signature. As he got closer, he could feel that familiar sense of wonderment she had so frequently exuded back near her home in the jungle. It was also the strongest Force-signature Ben had ever felt, even stronger than what he felt with his mother. Why was he able to feel her like this? There was little doubt she was down on that planet.

“Ben. Ben!” He opened his eyes to look over and see his dad attempting to take over controls for approach and landing.

“I got it. I got it.” Ben waved off his dad as he turned his attention back to the controls. “Sorry about that.”

“What was that, kid? Where did you go?” His father asked in a concerned tone.

“I think I found her.”

“What? You mean you think your girl is on Jakku?”

“Yes,” he looked at his father right in the eye. “I know she is.”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“What do you mean you can’t find her?! She’s only five years old.” His father was yelling incredulously at the old woman, their contact in the village of Tuanul, the pastor of the Church of the Force congregation here. She had tears streaming down her face, trying to explain that her own granddaughter was missing as well. He could feel her worry and fear rippling off of her as his father continued to shout, Chewie growling his concern from behind them.

Ben chuckled quietly to himself at the thought of his father being angry at someone for losing track of a five-year-old. He had a whole lot of memories of being a precocious little kid, causing many a headache for his father and Chewie on their travels through the galaxy together. He even remembers being tied up in the _Falcon_ one time.

As his father continued to argue, Ben looked around and noticed more faces, faces of many different species of sentient life, staring at them, coming out of their tents to see the commotion. He backed away from his father’s heated argument and began to follow a feeling he had since they entered the village. As he approached the tent the old woman had come out of, he felt all the eyes follow him instead of continuing to watch his father and Old Sasha.

He ducked through the opening of the tent he felt pulled toward. As soon as he stood up and his eyes adjusted to the dark, he realized where he was. There were three bedrolls in the tent, one large one to the left and two small ones next to each other on the right. He was in the same tent he had visited during his dream the other night. This was where the girl was, his girl. He set his hand onto her bedroll and he felt it come over him in large crashing waves. He backed up and ran out of the tent.

“Dad! Dad! I know where she is,” he interrupted his father. “I can find her. Right now.

“Ben, what are you--” His father looked at him, confused. He rested his hands on his dad’s shoulders.

“Rey, their little girl Rey. Rey is her. Rey is the girl--the girl from my dreams.”

He watched as his words began to make sense in his father’s mind. Han’s eyes grew wide and then that smirk of his came across his face.

“Then what are we waiting for?!” He asked his son, rhetorically. Turning to the old woman, he asked, “Got a speeder we can borrow? Preferably one that can carry two men, two kids, and a Wookiee?”

“Your son. He is a Jedi. The Force is so strong--” She was staring at Ben with a look of amazement and fear.

“Ya, he’s got all that Force mumbo jumbo. Lady, if you got a speeder, we can find your granddaughter right now.”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

His dad let him drive the rust bucket of a speeder without a fight, which was a first. Ben reached out toward Rey’s mind again, determining what direction they needed to go. As he did so, he felt panic and put his speeder in high gear. Some of the panic had to be Rey’s but he was feeling it as well. She was feeling fear and anger.

They sped up and over dunes toward the ruins of a star destroyer in the distance. Ever since entering Jakku’s orbit, it felt like something through the Force was tying them together, some sort of rope tethering them to one another. The closer he got to her, the more he reached out to her mind, the stronger and thicker the invisible rope seemed to get.

Ben had been on missions to find other Force-sensitive kids with his Uncle Luke, using the Force to guide their search. But none of those searches felt like this. None of those connections he made with other kids’ minds felt like he was being pulled like he had to find them. And he never had dreams about any of those other kids. What was it about this kid? What was so different about Rey? He knew her name now. Rey.

As they got closer he could see more life forms than just two little girls.

“Looks like we’ve got trouble,” his dad shouted over the wind. Chewie roared from behind them.

“I know, Uncle Chewie. I got a bad feeling about this, too,” Ben agreed.

He slowed down the speeder as they approached and his jaw dropped. He could see her fending off advances from the two reptilian-looking beings with just a simple wooden staff, swirling it through the air from one move to the next, knocking one of them out cold.

Ben leaped from the speeder and ignited his lightsaber as he approached. But before he could get to them, Rey had the other Teedo on the ground just like the first.

He flicked off his lightsaber and stood frozen staring at the little girl before him. She gathered herself into a ready position, staff in attack mode, looked up at him and froze as well, blood dripping down her forehead. He could feel the Force buzzing like a hive of bees between the two of them.

“It’s you,” she whispered and then crumpled to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nod to Star Wars Roll Out for a little bit of inspiration in this. I also just finished reading Lost Stars. Anyone catch that reference?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, he stood there, with her still unconscious and cradled in his arms, watching his father reunite the other little girl with her sobbing grandmother. Looking down at Rey’s headwound, he knew he needed to get her on the Falcon to treat it. He began walking toward the ship, looking back at his Uncle Chewie with a knowing expression and head gesture in that direction. Chewie roared back in understanding and jogged off ahead of him to ready the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments, kudos, and bookmarks mean so much and keep me writing. Thank you so much for reading.
> 
> The artwork:  
> My strength as a formally trained artist and art teacher had always been observational drawing. Put a model in front of me and I can draw the human figure with the best of them. I have never been very skilled in drawing people from memory. But I have such a desire to create visual imagery to go with my fanfics. Since I have no models willing to sit still while I draw them, I thought I might try creating a quick still-life for some of the chapters in my fanfic, sort of like the still-life at the beginning of each Outlander episode. Each time I include a drawing, I will include a little blurb about the art in the end notes. Hope you enjoy the addition.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

Everywhere their skin touched he felt a tingling sensation, like little sparks of electricity traveling between them. He had felt it from the moment he picked her up out of the sand and throughout the speeder ride all the way back to the village. Ben normally did not like making contact with other people. He usually went out of his way to avoid it but at the moment she collapsed to the ground, his discomfort was far from his mind. Her safety became paramount. And the effect of their contact added another curious element to their connection.

Now, he stood there, with her still unconscious and cradled in his arms, watching his father reunite the other little girl with her sobbing grandmother. Looking down at Rey’s headwound, he knew he needed to get her on the _Falcon_ to treat it. He began walking toward the ship, looking back at his Uncle Chewie with a knowing expression and head gesture in that direction. Chewie roared back in understanding and jogged off ahead of him to ready the ship.

The Wookiee had offered to take the girl from him back at the star destroyer ruins, but Ben couldn’t let her go. He felt the Force flowing between the two of them as if it was telling him he needed to keep holding her. And while he may look like a scrawny teenage kid, he was strong. One thing his uncle’s training was good for was whipping his padawans into shape. So as he climbed into the speeder with Rey in his arms, Chewie responded by jumping into the pilot seat of the speeder and returning them back to the village in record time.

The Force was reverberating all around them as he carried her up the boarding ramp and hurried her through the corridors to the crew hold, resting her gently on the bunk. As he removed his hands from her, he felt a sort of scream from the Force. He reached out and brushed her hair away from her wound at her hairline and the Force around them went from a scream back to a steady hum. 

“Uncle Chewie, grab the medkit and bring it back here,” he shouted. As he finished he looked up to see his uncle already standing there with the kit. “Thanks."

Ben dragged the medkit beside the bunk. He pulled out the scanner unit and placed it onto Rey. He could see that her blood had clotted around the wound on her head but she was still unconscious. He was sensing a concussion but to be sure, he let the scanner do its work as he pulled up a chair to sit down by her side.

When the scanner unit gave its diagnosis, his suspicion was confirmed. All he could do with what was in the kit was place a bacta patch on her wound and stay by her side to keep an eye on her until they could get her real medical attention. He also stayed because he didn’t want her to wake up somewhere strange and alone. His dad and Chewie could handle everything else without him.

As he felt the ship take off, he slid his hand under Rey’s and the Force was once again purring around them. He wrapped his fingers around her little hand, completely engulfing it in his own. He leaned down and rested his forehead on the soft raised edge of the bunk and closed his eyes, letting the Force swirl and hum through him, gently reaching out to Rey’s mind to make sure she was alright. He could sense a peacefulness within her mind, a restful slumber.

He released her hand, unfolding the old wool blanket from the end of the bunk, when he noticed something white in her belt. It was a flower in a small pouch, now crumpled from the chaos of rushing her to safety. He set the flower on a side table and then draped the blanket over her small body, tucking it in around her shoulders. He stood for a moment, staring at it, the little dots and lines making up star systems his mother had embroidered onto the deep blue-black fabric. He had a vision of the two of them curled up together in the bunk watching episodes of his favorite holoshow _Moray and Faz_ for the millionth time while she added more and more star systems to the blanket, his blanket.

He ran his fingers across his eyes, wiping away the warmth he began to feel welling up. Walking over to his rucksack, he pulled out the old books his father had brought for him. As he sat back down, he found it hard to focus on the text in the books. The Force had stopped screaming around them and was now just more of a quiet, steady, reassuring feeling, something Ben hadn’t experienced in a long time and if he was honest, hardly ever in his life. 

He just sat there and stared at her, the little girl from his dream. The girl he had watched grow up. He almost couldn’t believe this was real, as if this too was one of his dreams. But he knew it wasn’t because when they touched, he wasn’t instantly pulled out of the dream, like before. 

Her chestnut brown hair was tied up in little buns at the back of her head, just like she had been wearing it since her mother could hold it back with a tie. It felt strange to know these things about someone he had only just met, just learned her name. She didn’t even know his name yet.

“Hey, kid, how is she?” His father asked as he peeked through the doorway breaking his reverie, Rey’s staff and a small rucksack in his hand.

“She’s alright. The wound isn’t deep but she has a concussion. I’m going to stay back here with her.”

“Of course. Sounds like a plan. Chewie and I got everything handled so don’t even worry about anything else,” his dad leaned the staff against the wall and set the rucksack on the floor. He walked over and looked down at the little girl, resting his hand lightly on Ben’s shoulder, a gesture he would usually shirk away from. This time he accepted the gesture. There was something comforting about it, something familiar from better times in his childhood.

“Um, dad, do you think you could grab me a small dish with some water from the kitchen?” Ben gestured toward the wilted flower on the table. “I want to see if I can salvage that for her. I think that’s what she went into the ship ruins for.”

“Sure thing,” his father said without hesitation. “Fearless little kiddo isn’t she. Kinda reminds me of another kid I know.” He could hear the half-smile on his dad’s face.

“Thanks, Dad, for-,’ he released a breath as he continued to watch Rey. “-for, you know.”

“I know, son,” his dad gave him a gentle pat on the back. “I’ll comm your mother and let her know to be ready for our arrival in Quarrow.” And then he was gone down the corridor.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

Laying in her small bed in their little cabin on Takodana, Rey kept her eyes shut tight pretending to still be asleep as she felt her mother brush her hair from her forehead, felt her father wrap his hand around her hand, felt the boy from her dreams reach out to her mind the same way her parents did.

The boy from her dreams. She felt his presence. Was he there, too? She opened her eyes.

She was looking up at the gaping mouth of the star destroyer ruins against a blue desert sky. No Mama. No Papa. Just sand and ruins. She sat up looking around frantically, trying to remember something. Why was she here? Where was she?

_They abandoned you, child. You were too much trouble for them. They gave you away._

“Who is there?” She jumped up, looking in all directions frantically. 

“Leave her alone!” She heard someone shout and turned to see the boy standing behind her, looking up at the sky. He looked back down at her and closed his eyes, a look of pained focus and concentration on his face. She could feel him wrapping around her mind, like a protective shield.

His eyes flew back open and he shouted to her this time. “Rey, you need to wake up now!”

I am awake, she thought. And then she looked at her surroundings again. She realized there was no sound around her, no wind, no echo of their voices through the belly of the star destroyer.

She was in a dream. And he looked frightened.

“Rey! Wake up now!”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She gasped in a huge breath. She fluttered her eyes open to see a face and as she focused she realized it was his face.

“Is this still a dream?” She croaked out.

“Thank the stars!” he spoke as he exhaled, pulling her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her. Her skin was tingling everywhere he touched her. It made her feel safe and calm. She raised her arms and returned his hug.

After a long moment, he still wasn’t releasing her so she mumbled into his tunic, “where are we?”

He pulled back from her, his hands grasping her shoulders, his intense brown eyes burrowing deep into her own. And he smiled at her. She could feel the relief coming off of him in waves.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“You are on my dad’s ship. Your parents got a message to my mother and--,” he began to explain.

“My parents!” Her eyes lit up as she spoke.

“Rey, your parents sent us to get you. To protect you.”

“You know my name,” she looked at him quizically with her head tilted to the side. “That’s not fair. I don’t know yours.”

He chuckled and looked down nodding his head. “I’m Ben.”

“Hi, Ben,” she smiled at him with a big gap-toothed grin, a dimple forming in her cheek, her eyes seeming to twinkle. “I’m so glad it was you that came to get me.” And she smashed her cheek into his chest, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug that rivaled Uncle Chewie’s best efforts.

Once she released him, he got up from the side of the bunk and sat back on the chair. “How are you feeling?”

She raised her hand to the bacta patch still stuck to her hairline. “I guess I’m doing okay. The Teedos?”

“They are fine. You just gave them a good afternoon nap,” he explained. She gave him another toothy grin in return, one of her top front teeth and two of her bottom ones missing. Each smile she gave him sent a sense of contentment over him. “My dad brought all your stuff onto the ship, including your staff. You’re pretty good with that thing. Where did you learn those moves?”

“My mama and papa taught me some moves to fend off animals in the jungle where we lived on Takodana but, I don’t know, I just saw the moves in my head and I did them.”

Oh boy, Luke is gonna have a field day with this kid. A serious conversation needed to be had with his mother about this little girl’s future. And his own for that matter.

“My desert flower! You saved it!” she shouted gleefully, clapping her hands and bouncing on the mattress as if he had just performed a magic trick.

He turned behind him to look at the sad flower he had transferred to the cup his dad brought him, and he was shocked to find the flower upright in full bloom.

“Well, I guess I did,” he responded hesitantly.

He turned back to look at the delighted little girl, realizing it was going to take a whole lot more than a cup and water to keep her safe. It scared him a little to think about it. But what he felt from the Force swirling around the two of them made him feel like anything was possible.

She was awake. She was alright. He was going to have to work hard to keep her hidden from Snoke.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“Han, you’ve got her?” Leia asked immediately upon picking up the comm.

“Yes, we’ve got her, and you wouldn’t believe it if I told you,” he said to her with a laugh.

“Told me what,” she responded nervously. “Is she okay? She’s not hurt, is she?”

“Well, ah--”

“Han, is she alright?” panic beginning to enter her mind.

“She’s fine. She got a bit of a nasty bump on her head but Ben is taking good care of her.”

“Ben? Ben is taking care of her?” she was a bit surprised, thinking Chewie would have been more likely to look after the kid.

“Yeah, see, that’s the thing. Rey, the girl you sent us to get,” he paused.

“Yes,” Leia spoke in anticipation.

“Well, she is Ben’s girl. The girl from his dreams. So our trip was a bit shorter than we thought and we are on our way to you.” He was silent, waiting for her response.

She sat there, staring at the wall in front of her, shocked. What were the chances? What did this all mean? What was the Force trying to do? 

“Han, this is amazing.”

“I know, right,” he exclaimed. “Leia, she’s a spunky kid. And Ben, well, I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Get here fast. I miss you all so much and I can’t wait to meet this little girl finally,” she said from her heart.

“We’ll be there before you know it, sweetheart.”

She was excited and scared all at the same time. Excited to protect and help this girl. Scared of the daunting task before her and her family. Now they had two children in their care that the Sith would be after.

Leia turned off the comm and walked over to the shelf on the wall, the one where she kept mementos from her life. A ring from her adoptive mother. A hair comb belonging to her birth mother. A small framed drawing of her father.

“Now I understand the weight of the choice you made when you brought me home to Alderaan with you all those years ago. The power and danger you were protecting me from,” she said to the picture with a deep sigh. “Father, help me now. I need your guidance more than ever. Help me to do the right thing for these children.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the art:  
> This flower is a mash-up of the flower Rey finds in her Star Wars Roll Out series and the real-life Earth desert flower, the sand blazing star.
> 
> The leather pouch is the one 5-year-old Rey puts the root system of the flower into when she finds it in the star destroyer ruins on Jakku in this story. Ben then finds it attached to her belt while she is recovering from a concussion on the Falcon.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey,” she threw up her hands to protect the three little buns Han had tried his best to pull her hair back into this morning, at her direction, when she awoke at an ungodly hour. She had been awake now for at least eight standard hours. She kept Han and Chewie on their toes the whole time. A nap had to be coming soon. Han tried to remember if Ben was still taking naps at the age of five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to cover so much more about Rey's arrival on Nakadia but I decided to split it into two chapters to keep pacing consistent.
> 
> Your kudos, comments, bookmarks, and recommendations keep me motivated. Thank you so much for reading.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“I suggest a new strategy, Chewie,” Han said to his friend who was growling in frustration over the game of Dejarik he was playing. “Let the kid win.” He chuckled as he leaned against the door frame, a wide grin on his face, watching Chewbacca lose his favorite game to the little girl who had just learned it.

The Wookiee growled in irritation at his friend.

“I know,” Han put his hands up in a defensive gesture, “but you do remember she is about the same age Ben was when he first beat you.”

Chewbacca gave out a fond grunt, remembering the bond he once had with the little human boy.

“She is a lot like him, isn’t she?” Han answered his friend. “But there is something different, too.” He watched as Rey looked up at him with her big toothy grin.

“Ben likes this game, too?” She asked with adoring curiosity. While all other kids seemed to steer away from his son, this kid drew to him like gravity. Han marveled at this.

“That’s right, kid. He used to whoop his Uncle Chewie’s butt.”

The Wookiee howled in protest. Rey shook with a big giant twinkle of childish laughter.

Movement in the corridor caught Han’s eye. He turned to see his teenage son, mussed bedhead hair and sleepy half-lidded eyes, emerge from the shadows and slide onto the bench next to Rey.

“He lives! It’s a miracle!” Han lifted his arms in mock surprise, teasing his son.

Ben returned the gesture with an exaggerated sarcastic smirk. “What’s for breakfast?” His son asked followed by a yawn and a stretch of his long scraggly legs.

“Breakfast?” Han chuckled. “I mean, you could call it a late lunch at this point. Chewie made some food earlier and put it on ice. Otherwise, you can grab a ration pack.”

“Benny! You’re awake!” Rey shrilled with all the energy of a 5-year-old. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug, squeezing her eyes shut. Han braced himself for an angry outburst at the sound of his ornery son's childhood nickname he had asked them to stop using years ago.

Ben’s eyes shot open as if she had at that very moment just woke him up. Then his eyes relaxed and he returned her hug.

“Mornin’, Rey.”

“Morning?” She giggled loudly. “That was a long time ago, silly.” Consumed by laughter, she snorted at her friend.

Han watched as his son smiled down at the little girl next to him. A genuine smile.

“Where did you find this?” He asked her, tugging at the little rebel pilot doll in her hand.

“Your dad gave it to me. He said it was yours. Do you want it back?” She held out the doll to the teenage boy.

“Nope. It’s all yours.” Ben rubbed the top of Rey’s head, mussing her hair.

“Hey,” she threw up her hands to protect the three little buns Han had tried his best to pull her hair back into this morning, at her direction, when she awoke at an ungodly hour. She had been awake now for at least eight standard hours. She kept Han and Chewie on their toes the whole time. A nap had to be coming soon. Han tried to remember if Ben was still taking naps at the age of five.

When she first awoke, she had made her way into the cockpit where Chewie was on watch, leaping into the co-pilot seat and rattling off questions a meter a minute. The chatter had awoken Han from his light slumber. He was amazed that this little girl understood Shyriiwook at such a young age and with no prior exposure to Wookiees that they knew of.

Han thought back to the times Ben had been able to pick up other languages effortlessly, whether it was at a Galactic Senate function following around his mother or sitting in a cantina on some far-flung planet with him and Chewie negotiating deals as he sipped on whatever local sweet juice concoction the bartender came up with.

Usually, not one to fully trust the ways of the Force, Han had to admit there was something significant in the connection between this little girl and his son, something good unlike the creature, Snoke, that Leia had described to him. Something inside Han led him to feel the good in this girl, the good in their connection. As Leia would tell him, he just had to have hope that finding her would be good for both of these kids sitting in front of him.

Breaking out of his thoughts, he glanced over at them and noticed little Rey curled up in a ball under Ben’s arm, leaned up against his side, her eyes closed, a little whistle of breath escaping between her teeth in a rhythm.

“Is she sleeping?” He asked his son.

Ben nodded silently, trying not to disturb her.

“Thank the maker. I forgot how quick that comes on for a kid her age,” he remarked to his son. “Stay put. It’s nice to have a bit of peace. Let me go grab you some food.”

He watched as his son took his old doll from Rey’s drooping hand and tucked it securely under her arm, the little girl squeezing the doll in her sleep in reaction to the gesture. Chewie draped a blanket over her as Han headed to the kitchen.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She stood waiting nervously in the spaceport north of Quarrow, wringing her sweaty hands together. For all the intense situations she had encountered in her life, nothing compared to facing her family. She had loved her father with such ease and admiration. But loving Han was the most profound and burning feeling she ever had. And she loved her son with a powerful ferocity she never thought could exist. But, there it was, her strongest most passionate feelings of love for anyone in the galaxy and it made her sweaty and nervous like nothing else in her life. 

She constantly questioned her decisions when it came to Han and Ben. In the Senate, she had an innate feeling for what was right and just. In her private life, things were so much more grey and standing her ground was not always the kind or compassionate thing to do. Being willing to admit mistakes and apologize for them was sometimes the best course of action which was hard for her to do.

And they were about to bring another child into their tumultuous lives. But Leia hadn’t hesitated for a moment when Lor told her Rey’s story. There was no other family to be trusted with her secret and her safety for that matter.

She had been staring down at her hands twisted in her robes when she heard the familiar hum of engines off in the distance. She felt those same flutters in her stomach that she had all those years ago in the early part of their marriage when he would return home after being away for a long stretch. They couldn’t keep their hands off one another back then, even when she was huge as a house, pregnant with Ben.

This time around, it was the longest they had ever gone without seeing each other in person since he had been frozen in carbonite. She ached to hold him, to feel his touch. But she also feared he may not feel the same way.

And Ben, oh how she just wanted to hug him and breathe in his scent. It was always so calming for her. Again, she didn’t know if he would want her near him. She knew he was upset with her for not letting him leave the Jedi Academy. Would he be so mad as to not hug her?

She watched hopeful but cautious as the Falcon approached the hangar, a sight she had seen so often in her life and one she would never tire of.

As the ramp lowered, she could spy Jedi-issue brown boots on lanky legs next to tinier boots and a little upside-down face squinting to get the first look out of the open ship. This brought a smile to Leia’s face and calmed her worries. As the two kids made their way down toward her, the little girl skipped, holding and yanking at Ben’s hand.

The most joyous thing to her in this entire scene was the expression on her son’s face. When was the last time she had seen her boy smile like that? He was beaming, and laughing? Was he laughing, watching Rey pull him off the ship?

To Leia’s surprise, her son looked at her, bent over, and tugged her right into a tight hug.

“I’ve missed you, Mom.” He whispered into her shoulder as she breathed in his scent.

They released one another and she held him away from her and looked him over, both of them still with smiles on their faces.

Stepping back, Leia looked down and could no longer see the little girl. She watched as Ben reached behind himself and pulled her in front of him. She was clinging to him, her grin gone from her face. Ben knelt to her eye level.

“Rey, this is my mother,” he said, one of the most gentle gestures Leia had ever seen from her son.

“Your Ben’s mama?” The girl looked up at her hesitantly.

“That I am,” she answered, setting her hand on Rey’s shoulder.

“Ooo, look at all the ships!” Rey ran off toward the shuttles on the other side of the hangar.

“Rey, wait!” Ben went running after the curious kid. Leia chuckled to herself. Just like a little boy she once knew.

A large brown blur enveloped her from the corner of her eye with a comforting roar.

“I missed you, too,” she said as she rubbed the Wookiee’s arm. She stood there like that, rocking slowly with him in the snug embrace, this great hulking mass that was just as much a brother to her as Luke. He always gave the best hugs.

“You gonna let me see my wife here or just keep her covered, ya giant carpet?” The sound of his voice made her stomach flip.

With a roar, Chewie released her and moved back over to the ship. He had gotten skilled over the years at knowing just when to give them privacy.

And there he was in front of her. Same cocky tilt to his head. Same smirk. The same sparkle in his eyes that let her know behind all his bravado was the gentle loving man she fell head over heels for, even after all these years.

He closed the distance between them and pulled her into his embrace, pressing her cheek to his chest. He smelled like grease and Trillium soap and she breathed it in like oxygen.

“I’ve missed this, sweetheart,” he spoke into her hair in a gruff quiet voice. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

“Rey, get down from there,” they heard Ben shout from across the hangar followed by a clanging crash.

Han pulled back to look down at her as she looked up and met his eyes, both of them smiling on the verge of laughter.

“Let’s get these kids home before they break anything else, “ he chuckled. A sense of deja vu passed over her at those words.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She could not believe her eyes as she watched the city go by from their speeder. So many people. The buildings were so big. She strained to crane her neck up to see the tops.

“Those are skyscrapers,” Ben explained. “Wait until you see Coruscant. The whole planet is covered in them.”

“There is a whole planet of giant buildings?!” She looked at him with big giant eyes of shock. Looking back up at the buildings, she asked, “why are they called skyscrapers? Do they scrape the sky? Cut open clouds and make it rain?”

He laughed with a big smile stretched across his face. “No, Rey. They are called skyscrapers because from the ground, they seem to scrape the sky. But you can’t actually scrape the sky.”

“Ooooohhhh,” she responded slowly, eyes still glued to the sites around them, outside the speeder. She had never seen so many colors of clothing and there were species she had never seen before. Her parents had rarely taken her around others, her mother telling her that many of the beings that hung around Maz’s castle were dangerous and might try to take a little girl like her. With that warning, she stayed close to her parents and always avoided the castle when she wandered out on her own.

Nakadia was absolutely nothing like Takodana or Jakku. All three planets seemed so different from one another. Rey was enchanted by the vast diversity of the galaxy and she couldn’t wait to see more of it.

“Many of these buildings went up after the capital moved here, the same year Ben was born,” Leia explained as she leaned back over her shoulder at Rey in the back seat of the speeder. “And that building over there is the Galactic Senate House where I work.”

But Rey was much more fascinated by the restaurant across from the Senate House, the one with the hovering patios and the bright glowing sign that said _Izzik’s_. 

“Whooooa,” she gawked with wonder. “That is amazing and there are so many people crowded into one place. Can we go there?” She asked, sticking her stubby 5-year-old finger out the side of the speeder at the restaurant.

“Sure, I can take you to the Senate House with me,” Leia answered, a misunderstanding as to which place Rey was talking about.

 _That restaurant is filled with a whole bunch of boring politicians_ , she heard Ben say in her mind. She whipped her head to look at him. _You can hear me in there?_ He asked looking down at her in amazement when he saw her reaction to his thought.

 _Yup,_ _loud and clear,_ she said back with a big gap-toothed grin.

 _Wow. I thought maybe we could only do this in our dreams. Anyhow, there are some way cooler places I can take you around here._ Her eyes got even bigger with excitement and she began nodding in delighted agreement.

 _Can you talk to anyone else like this?_ She asked, curiosity glinting in her eyes. She could feel sudden darkness come over the boy in front of her, his smile turning to a frown. _Oh, so you can talk with other people in their heads._ Her smile dissipating.

 _No,_ he quickly corrected. _No, you are the only one I know that I can talk to like this._ His frown was gone but he looked directly at her with a seriousness she hadn’t seen since she woke up on his dad’s ship.

 _Oh,_ a small smile returned to her face. _Well, then this is so awesome. It’s like we have a secret code language or something._

He nodded a small smile at her and then looked off in the other direction. As the speeder pulled onto the landing pad, Leia announcing they were home, Rey could still feel a dark presence surrounding Ben and something about it made her scared for him. She could feel his fear, too.

She reached out and gave a gentle pat to the boy’s shoulder. _It’s okay, Benny._

He lifted his hand and rested it on top of hers, still looking off elsewhere. _Thanks, Rey._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is turning out to be a Reylo AND a Leia/Han fic. Exploring their relationship between ROTJ and TFA is so interesting to me since they were my original ship as a kid before "ships" were a thing.
> 
> Your feedback is so so so so appreciated.
> 
> For updates and my general Star Wars geekiness, follow me on Tumblr at https://sapphire-reverie.tumblr.com/


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rey, it will be okay. We will figure this out. No matter what, you and I will stick together. Right, Mom?” Her son looked at her for assurance. She could feel the Force reverberating between the children. When she didn’t answer, he turned to his father. “Dad?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the kudos, comments, bookmarks, and subscriptions. As I always say, they keep me motivated. One comment can do so much for a fanfic writer. Thanks for sticking with this story.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr at sapphire-reverie

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

Tatooine was no better than Jakku. Sand everywhere, in everything. Their contact had sent them the coordinates of an abandoned hut on the southwestern edge of the planet’s Dune Sea. They had been told it was close enough to civilization to obtain work and keep current with the news of the galaxy but far enough away that no one would bother them, thinking them hermits.

When they arrived at the hut, there was no surprise as to why it was abandoned. The roof was caved in and there would be major work ahead of them, but they needed a safe place to hide and live and this seemed to be their only option.

The work had been labor-intensive but they finally got the place somewhat habitable again. Occasionally, when she took a moment to rest and collect her thoughts, she imagined Rey in their new home, sitting on the floor playing with her dolls or sleeping peacefully in the bed or climbing up through the kitchen to sneak a snack or treat. That is when her heart would ache most, in those little moments of peace, those little moments of memories superimposed into their new life without her.

Some days were better than others. Some days she could just move forward through the tasks at hand, knowing in the back of her mind that somehow Rey was safe. Other days she was crippled with heartache and sorrow, unable to focus, worrying about her daughter, wondering if she had made it safely to Luke Skywalker. The only solace was understanding the Force well enough to know that if Rey were grievously hurt, she would know instantly.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

He watched her make her way through the apartment as she seemingly bounced off every surface she came near with an endless energy, while his father carried in her belongings and followed his mother down the hall to their bedroom.

“What’s this?” she asked as she pointed.

“A holoprojector,” he answered.

“Ooo, what does it do?”

“It projects holograms. We can send and receive messages from others.”

“And what’s this?”

“A holocaster.”

“What does that do?”

Ben picked up a small remote and clicked a button. Up popped an image of the latest Galactic Senate session. Of course his mother would be watching this rather than something for enjoyment.

“Whoa, that is amazing,” Rey exclaimed as she approached the image, turning her head to examine it. Ben clicked to another channel, showing a cartoon program. Rey’s eyes grew large as she watched the slap-stick action before her. Her rolling laughter began to fill the room.

Before he knew it, she was moving on to another room. He followed her into the kitchen.

“Hello, my name is BX-2020. I am a culinary septic droid at your service. Would you like some caf?”

“Sure,” Rey responded with enthusiasm and a giant gap-toothed grin.

“No,” Ben shouted at the droid. Seeing the shock on the little girl’s face, he calmed his tone. “No, she does not need any caf. How about a glass of warm bantha milk?”

“Right away, Master Ben,” the droid responded and turned attention to his work in the kitchen as Rey flitted out of the room and down the hall.

“Wow, what is this room for?” he heard her voice bounce off the tile in the ‘fresher and chuckled to himself.

“It’s the ‘fresher, Rey,” he shouted as he made his way to her.

“Oh. That makes sense,” she responded and was on to the next room before he reached her.

“Hey, wait,” he said as she disappeared into his bedroom.

“Whoa, Benny, this is cool. What is this?”

As Ben turned into his room, he found Rey standing on the chair in front of his desk holding a calligraphy brush in one hand and a glass bottle of ink in the other. At first he wanted to shout and tell her to put it down, afraid she would break the bottle and make a mess. But that wide-eyed look of curiosity was back on her face, the one he’d seen countless times that day. 

As he felt the anger bubble up inside, he could see her face change, becoming more serious. She carefully set the brush and ink back in its place and turned back to look at him, calm and serene. He felt her mind reach out to him, like when she set her hand on his shoulder earlier. The anger dissipated and a peacefulness washed through his thoughts.

 _I’m sorry, Benny. I wasn’t gonna break it. You just have so much cool stuff in your home. My home never had stuff like this._ She tilted her head down and looked up at him, a hesitant smile returning to her face.

 _You have nothing to be sorry about, Rey._ He responded, returning her smile as he walked over to the desk. “This is a calligraphy set. This is how cultures communicated in writing before there were datapads. It is how history was recorded before datapads.” 

He pulled out a leatherbound book and unwound the string holding it closed. The pages inside were a warm golden hue. He set the book down in front of Rey on the desk and began to flip through the pages, showing her some of his old work from before he had joined his Uncle Luke.

“It is so beautiful,” she said softly as she traced her fingers over the dried strokes of ink.

“I can show you how to do this. Would you like that?”

“Oh, yes! Very much!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands together, her toothy grin shining with excitement.

“You have ships!” Her eyes darted to the wall behind him where his mother had arranged his childhood toys for display. Rey leaped out of the chair, dragging it over to the shelf before Ben could react. “This one is an X-wing, right? I saw one fly over our home once on Takodana and my mother told me these were flown by Rebel pilots.”

Ben walked over to help her with the toy, extending his hand with the Force and floating it into her hand. Her eyes grew wide. _Teach me how to do that._ He nodded at her.

“Your mother was correct. My Uncle Luke flew these during the war. He is an amazing pilot. He still has one, but it just sits at the academy collecting dust,” he shared with her as she hopped off the chair with the ship in one hand, making engine sounds with her mouth.

“That is so awesome. My parents are pilots,” she said as she leaped up onto his bed in a smooth quick movement, jumping up and down, ship still in hand, resuming the engine sounds.

“Ben. Rey. Dinner,” he heard his mother call down the hall. He turned to the door to head out.

“Come on, Rey. Let’s go eat.” Rey stopped jumping, dropped the ship on the bed and vaulted herself onto Ben’s back. Sparks ignited through the Force everywhere they touched. His breath caught at the sudden shock of it all.

“Whoa,” Rey whispered, her breath tickling his neck. She took in a deep breath and paused. Then she giggled and shouted, “You’re the ship. I’m the pilot. Let’s go!”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

Leia watched with wonder as the little girl beside her shoveled food into her mouth, legs swinging below the table with unspent energy.

Across the table from Rey sat her son, eating just as furiously.

“Did you feed them on the _Falcon_? It’s like they haven’t eaten in days,” she asked her husband, looking across the table at him with a teasing smile.

“This one,” Han paused, pointing his thumb toward Rey, “is an energy source unto herself and this one,” he raised his other thumb toward his son, “ is growing like a weed. Have you seen how tall he is? We’re the same height! I thought I’d at least have a couple more years as the tallest in the family.”

“Isn’t Uncle Chewie the tallest in the family?” Ben mumbled with a mouth full of food.

“Ben! Manners,” Leia shot a sharp motherly glance toward the boy.

He gulped down his food. “Sorry,” he turned back toward his dad and enunciating in an exaggerated fashion, repeated with an empty mouth, “Isn’t Uncle Chewie the tallest in the family?”

“You’re right, kid. You got me,” Han responded to his son with a humored smirk.

“Mom, what are all the containers for in the guest room?”

“Well, as you might have heard, the capital will be moving soon to Hosnian Prime and it didn’t make much sense to stay here, what with you at the academy and your father traveling so much for work.” She watched as Ben rolled his eyes at this and hung his head.

“Ben, honey, we still have our home on Chandrila where you grew up. That will always be our family’s home,” Leia reached out and gently touched her son’s hand. He flinched but didn’t pull away, lifting his head to look at Rey who was looking right back at him. She knew this exchange well and so did Han. Looking at her husband, she nodded knowingly. She and Luke looked just like this when they communicated in their minds with one another. Han had been jealous of this early on but grew to better understand the importance of her bond with her long lost brother.

Leia was beginning to better understand what was going on between Ben and Rey. In the little bit of time she had spent with this child, a sense of hope was building in her mind, hope that this girl might be the key to saving her son.

“About our home, Leia,” Han interjected. “I've been thinking a lot. I-We-Our home has always been wherever we are together. I can call the _Falcon_ home all I want, but if you and Ben aren’t on it with me, it's just a place I hang with my best friend. This, right here, at this table is our home. Not the walls around us or the table or the food. It's the people at this table and we’ve welcomed a new person into this home.” Han leaned over and rustled the hair on top of Rey’s head. She returned the favor with a huge toothless grin.

“What are you saying, Han?”

“I’m saying I think we need to spend more time together as a family. I need to come home more often, Ben needs to be granted leave from the academy more often, and if it means we have to come to you because you don’t get the luxury of time off, then so be it. Plus, now we got this little kiddo. She needs us, Leia. All of us.”

Leia knew he was right. She knew they needed to spend more time together. But her work was demanding and she feared that even though Han’s intentions were good, he would end up on some adventure for far longer than he intended. And Ben. He needed his uncle’s guidance. Luke wouldn’t like him spending less time at the academy and there was no way Leia could keep an eye on a hyperactive 5-yr-old.

She saw the hopeful look on her son’s face. She knew he enjoyed his Jedi training but felt isolated at the academy, not like the other kids. Her hope had been to send Rey with him back to Luke, but now she knew there were going to have to be some conditions set with her brother about the training of these two kids.

She let out a deep sigh. “I agree. Let’s you and I discuss this more later. We need to be prepared to face Luke in a few days when he comes to pick these two up.”

“Pick us up? You mean I can’t stay with you? I can’t stay here?” Rey asked as a look of fright wiped away all signs of joy from the little girl’s face.

“Rey, it will be okay. We will figure this out. No matter what, you and I will stick together. Right, Mom?” Her son looked at her for assurance. She could feel the Force reverberating between the children. When she didn’t answer, he turned to his father. “Dad?”

“That’s what we are trying to work out,” Han answered his son, his eyes still locked with his wife. “You two are good for each other. Since Rey seems to have known you since she was born, you can help her adjust to her new surroundings. And Rey, well, she seems to have a positive influence on ya, kid.” Han looked over at his son with his classic smirk.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

That night, Ben let her have his bedroom, with all the awesome ships on the wall and the stars that glowed on the ceiling when the lights went out. He said he didn’t mind at all because the guest room bed was actually bigger. He was pretty tall and this bed was the perfect size for a little kid like her.

She drifted off to sleep watching speeders and transports zoom around the city in the night sky outside the window. She had never seen so many glowing lights.

Soon, she found herself sitting in a hut in the desert. She could feel sand under her feet on the floor. Suddenly, her father frantically ran into the room, grabbing rucksacks and shaking her mother awake from the bed.

"Papa!" she called to him, but he didn't seem to hear her. "Mama!" They couldn't hear her.

She could feel the fear rolling off the two of them and she could feel something else. Something scary, like the voice she had heard outside the star destroyer in another dream, the voice that Ben had driven away. And just as fast as her father had run into the room, they were both gone, leaving her in the space alone, calling for them, even though they couldn’t seem to see or hear her.

“Mama! Papa!” She screamed as loud as she could, but there was no answer. As she tried to follow them out the door, she felt hands grab her arms and she shut her eyes tight.

“Rey! Rey! Wake up, sweetheart!” She opened her eyes, blurry with tears to see Ben’s mom holding her.

“I miss my mama,” she cried burying her face into Leia’s nightgown. “I miss my papa.”

“I know. I know,” the woman smoothed her hand over Rey’s hair on her head and down her back. The gesture was soothing and reminded her of her own mother. Rey let out a sob. “Shhh. I’ve got you, sweetie.”

They sat there like that, Leia holding Rey in her arms as she cried for her parents until she finally fell back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know Leia watches Galactic C-Span. And I imagined Rey doing everything like a bouncy ball in this chapter.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr at sapphire-reverie. Ask me questions, just say hi, share your fanfic work with me, whatever you want!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, with Rey in his life, he felt the need to speak up, for her sake. She too was strong with the light, but he felt the dark in her as well, just like him. And the way the Force connected the two of them was different from anything he had ever experienced with another Force-sensitive. He was nervous Uncle Luke didn’t know how to handle them, what to do with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all the kudos, comments, bookmarks, and subscriptions. They truly fuel me and keep this story going.
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr at sapphire-reverie

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

She could feel when his ship left hyperspace just beyond Nakadia’s atmosphere. Turning the screen off her datapad and setting it on her desk, she buzzed for her assistant in the outer office.

“How may I help you Senator?” her assistant responded in her usual polite tone, all protocol, all business.

“I need to cut out early this afternoon. Reschedule the few meetings I have left today and send for my driver.

“Right away, Senator,” she answered. “Anything else?”

“Yes, can you send a message to BX-2020 to prepare dinner for five for this evening. Have him make something from Tatooine. Maybe bantha soup or something.” Leia needed her brother to be happy and relaxed. She knew the best way to achieve this was through his stomach, more specifically through one of Aunt Beru’s old recipes. “Oh, and thank you, Miri. Once you’re done with that, you may head home for the day.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

As she grabbed her things and headed out of the office, she began to organize her thoughts and argument for their family’s new plan. She had to be ready for all of Luke’s rebuttals.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

He could feel when his uncle entered Nakadia’s atmosphere, his Force signature loud and clear. 

He knew they needed to head back home but he continued to sit and stare in amazement at how the little girl next to him had destroyed her bantha ice cream treat. Melted blue goo was smeared across most of the lower half of her face and dripped off her chin into her lap. Even more of the blue mess dripped down her hand and forearm. She was going to need a lot of napkins to clean herself up. As she looked up at him with a big toothy grin, it made the whole mess worth it.

A memory flashed in his mind, he and his father sitting on a bench eating ice cream together. They were on some planet they’d stopped off at during one of his father’s shipping runs. He was probably around Rey’s age. His father had blue bantha ice cream on his face and drips of blue on his white shirt. Sometimes his father was like a big giant kid.

He let out a chuckle, looking down and shaking his head.

“What’s so funny, Benny?” Rey asked with a quizzical look.

“You and that ice cream cone. I’ll go grab some more napkins. Stay right here.”

The two of them had spent the day walking around Quarrow doing anything Rey had never done before. They started at his mother’s senate office so Rey could see species of aliens from all over the galaxy, Ben telling her through their minds where each was from. He took her to a toy store where he bought her a skimboard and they went to try it out at the nearest skim park. He was nervous she might get hurt, but she picked it up quickly with a bit of an assist from the Force and in no time she was gliding up and down and over the ramps with squeals of laughter.

They had lunch at Izzik’s, even though Ben tried without success to convince her they should go elsewhere. They caught a lot of eyes, not just because they were two kids with a skimboard eating around a bunch of politicians, but also because he could hear that those around him knew who he was and it brought on the barrage of gossip and negative banter about his mother and his family that he was so tired of hearing. By the end of the meal, even happy-go-lucky Rey was ready to leave, touching his hand and saying in his head, _I’m sorry I made us come here, Benny. I get it now._

After lunch, he took her to a local bantha ice cream stand where they sat outside on a bench enjoying their sugary treats.

“We need to head back to the apartment, Rey,” he told her as he returned with the napkins. She had finished her cone and was sitting with her hands out, completely covered in the sticky mess. He laid a napkin in her hand and within seconds it was completely sopping with melted ice cream, the napkin breaking apart, and sticking to her hand. She looked up at him with frustration and wide sad eyes.

He realized he was going to have to wipe the ice cream off for her. He doubled up the napkins and got to work cleaning off her hands and face, using water from his canteen in his belt to wipe away the stickiness.

“Better?” he asked her when he thought he had gotten all of it.

“Yup!” she answered cheerfully. “Let’s go meet your uncle.” And she hopped off the bench, grabbing his hand to pull him toward home.

“How did you know?”

“Your thoughts are loud and clear to me,” she paused with a thoughtful look and added, “sometimes.”

 _We’re gonna have to work on privacy, Rey_ , he projected into her mind.

 _Okee dokee_ , she projected back, craning to look up at him with another giant gap-toothed smile as she swung their hands forward and back. He was getting used to the tingling sensation every time they made skin to skin contact, another item on his list of things he hoped his uncle could explain or help them understand.

He was dreading this confrontation. His Uncle Luke was his role model. He admired his strength and calm control of the Force. When he was really little he wanted to be like his dad, just a pilot jetting around the galaxy. But as he began to better understand the Force, he wanted to be a pilot like his uncle, using the Force to guide him.

But after five years of Jedi treasure hunting and training at the academy, he was beginning to have doubts about his uncle’s ability to guide him in the ways of the Force. His uncle radiated light, the strongest light he had seen in any Force user. Ben felt he might never be able to achieve that. He felt the dark beckoning him. It was strong and it was taking a lot of his will power to control it. His uncle’s constant solution was to meditate more which did not seem to be enough.

Now, with Rey in his life, he felt the need to speak up, for her sake. She too was strong with the light, but he felt the dark in her as well, just like him. And the way the Force connected the two of them was different from anything he had ever experienced with another Force-sensitive. He was nervous Uncle Luke didn’t know how to handle them, what to do with them.

And then there was the other voice in his head. Ben already felt like he couldn’t talk about Snoke with anyone else. His mother knew about Snoke but she seemed afraid and unsure. For a time, he thought maybe this presence could help him deal with the dark side. But since finding Rey, an uneasy feeling has begun to grow. The way Snoke was trying to reach out to the little girl did not sit well with him and he was fighting every day to keep the two of them separate in his mind.

He was going to have to open up to his uncle, even though Snoke had discouraged this. He was going to try being completely honest with Luke in the hopes that he could better understand where he and Rey were coming from, what they were experiencing. 

As they got onto the turbolift heading up to the apartment, Rey stood in front of the control panel.

“I really want to press all of these,” Rey said in a quiet dreamy voice, a mix of mischief and wonder in her eyes.

“I know it is tempting, Rey, but if you do, it will take us forever to get home and we don’t have a droid with us to undo them,” he explained.

“Oh, that makes sense,” she said sadly. “But they’re calling to me, Benny.” She was looking up at him with her big smile, teasing him. He reached out and mussed the hair on the top of her head. “Hey,” she raised her arms to protect herself as they walked off the lift and down the hall.

As the door to their apartment hissed open, they were met with an intoxicating aroma of some beefy dish being prepared. He would bet anything that his mother had BX-2020 making some kind of Tatooine comfort food, putting her politician skills to work on her brother.

Rey skipped her way into the apartment as if this had been her home all her life. As Ben sauntered in slowly, his mother stopped to greet him with a hug. He leaned into it with his arms remaining at his side. She smelled like Alderaanian t’iil tea, a scent that always helped to soothe his anxiety as a small child. It was her favorite.

“Your uncle will be here at any moment. Of course, he commed me at the last moment to tell me he brought a friend so I’m frantically trying to help BX-2020 make more food. Go get yourself cleaned up for dinner,” she said as she looked over to Rey who was straddling the back of the sofa, swinging her legs. “And make sure she gets cleaned. What is that blue stuff--” Leia stopped herself and walked away with a sigh, rolling her eyes.

“Who is coming with Uncle Luke?” Ben called after his mother as she went back into the kitchen.

“You know him, I think. He went with you on one of your uncle’s treasure hunting trips not too long ago,” she answered. “Lor San Tekka. He was the one who helped us find Rey.”

“It’s that treasure hunter that thinks everything old belongs in a museum,” shouted his father from his parents’ bedroom.

Ben remembered Lor. How could he forget? While most of his uncle’s excursions were boring and uneventful, that one was far from it. He remembered complaining about how boring the trip was going to be to the voice in his head, to Snoke, as they traveled to the Outer Rim Territories on the edge of the Unknown Regions. When they arrived on Elphrona, they had found some fairly interesting Jedi artifacts in the old outpost. But he knew this would all just end up locked up in storage back at the academy.

The artifacts were not the reason that particular trip stood out in Ben’s memories. It was the fact that they had been surrounded and attacked by the Knights of Ren. While he, Lor, and his uncle had made it out alive, he couldn’t stop thinking about what the Knights' leader, Ren, had said to him. How a total stranger could sense the dark side in him, sense his struggle with the path of the Jedi. He offered him another path.

The encounter added to Ben’s turmoil, pulling him toward the dark side. And it was not long after this that he began seeing Rey more often in his dreams and during his meditation. It was as if the Force was pulling him back from those dark influences through Rey. Now that Rey was truly, physically in his life, he knew he needed to protect her and he needed help. He needed to make his uncle see, make him understand.

He headed down the hall to freshen up and then checked on Rey.

“Hey, Rey, make sure you change out of that dirty tunic,” he called down the hall.

“That reminds me, Rey,” his mother interjected from the kitchen. “I got you some new clothes and they’re laid out in Ben’s room.”

“Ooh, new clothes,” Rey shouted as she flashed by him in the hallway.

He could feel his uncle’s presence nearby and saw his mother head toward the door. He followed to greet their guests.

The door hissed open and he watched as his mother greeted her brother in a tight embrace, followed by a warm welcome to Lor. Luke walked up to Ben and set a hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye without a smile or a frown, just a warmth of care and concern, that of an uncle. At that moment, Rey ran in between them in a fresh white tunic and leggings, smile beaming.

“You must be Benny’s uncle! I’m Rey!”

Releasing his grip on Ben, Luke got on one knee to be at the little girl’s eye level. “Hello, Rey. I am Ben’s uncle. I’m Luke.”

Ben watched his uncle as he studied Rey with a look of intense curiosity. Then he looked up at him.

“Ben, much to discuss, we have, don’t we?”

“That we do, Master.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got another Indiana Jones reference in there. I picture Lor San Tekka as the Indiana Jones of the galaxy.
> 
> This is the last chapter with 5-yr-old Rey. But don't worry, she will still be quite the ball of energy.
> 
> The next chapter will be a sort of interlude from the POV of one or two characters whose POV we have not had yet. The chapter will be a year after this one but will contain flashbacks/memories to add context to the events of the chapter. It is a pivotal chapter. It may take me a bit longer to hash out details. Thank you for your patience.
> 
> I've been posting sneak peeks of chapter 12 on my Tumblr feed at sapphire-reverie


	12. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been six years since he had seen the two people he loved more than anything else in the galaxy. Their absence was like a hole in his heart that grew larger with each passing day. He had spent most of that time hopping from system to system and planet to planet in search of his daughter. She would be eight standard years by now. He had made a promise to his wife that he wouldn’t return without her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was reworked on 6/23/2020.
> 
> Kudos, bookmarks, and subscriptions make me smile. Comments spark my imagination and keep this story going.
> 
> This chapter is part Chapter 12/part Interlude from the POV of Lando Calrissian
> 
> I am putting a mature rating on this story due to an intimate encounter and bloody violence in this chapter and the probability of similar scenes in future chapters.
> 
> SPOILER WARNING: If you have not read Lando's Luck (a canon novel for middle-grade kids - ages 8-12), there are major spoilers in this chapter. You can jump way down in the chapter to the second "21ABY" marker. This marker starts from the POV of Rey's mother.
> 
> Lando's age: On Wookiepedia, the timeline says Lando was born about 43 BBY. That makes him 11 years older than Han Solo and about 58 years old at the birth of his daughter. While 58-year-old men are capable of becoming new fathers, I also feel like Wookiepedia's estimate is off. So in this fic, Lando is born in 34 BBY. I am placing Rinetta Gan's birth year at 24 BBY. She was 13 when they met in Lando's Luck which would place that story in 11 BBY, one year before he lost the Falcon to Han. He and Rinetta were strictly platonic friends in that story, but the epilogue is set after the Battle of Crait and really got the wheels turning in my head that Rinetta may play a more significant role in the Star Wars universe. With all that said, when Lando and Rinetta cross paths in 11 ABY, he is 46 and she is 36.
> 
> The Lando parts of this chapter were posted as a separate fic in the Lost Dreams Series. The mood board is from that fic.

__

_“Do you think we’ll see Captain Calrissian and the Millennium Falcon again?”_

_“We certainly hope not. That is a man who cannot help but attract trouble, no matter what he does.”_

-Princess Rinetta Gan and Queen Forsythia Jin of Hynestia, from the novel _Flight of the Falcon: Lando’s Luck_ by Justina Ireland 

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**21 ABY**

It had been six years since he had seen the two people he loved more than anything else in the galaxy. Their absence was like a hole in his heart that grew larger with each passing day. He had spent most of that time hopping from system to system and planet to planet in search of his daughter. She would be eight standard years by now. He had made a promise to his wife that he wouldn’t return without her.

A stupid promise. She always told him he should be careful of the promises he makes. And in the sorrow of their lost daughter, all he wanted to do was run to the arms of his wife for comfort. She was his strength and he needed her more than ever. But, he had made a stupid promise and he was too ashamed and too stubborn not to keep it.

This promise was the main reason why he agreed to join Luke on his hunt for an artifact that would provide clues to finding the Sith Cult that they suspected was supporting the imperial remnant activity in the outer reaches of the galaxy and elsewhere. The same group he suspected had kidnapped his daughter at the age of two and targeted other members of the Rebel Alliance leadership. Lando knew he could not turn down this opportunity.

Just saying yes to Luke made him feel like he was that much closer to seeing Rinetta again, that much closer to finding their daughter. He had been using his contacts in the underworld to try and find Elle and the other children kidnapped from Rebel leaders. His search uncovered a group called Project Resurrection and information that lead him to believe they were using Sith Cultists to hunt down children, especially the children of Force-sensitive leaders. He knew when he heard that, he was going to have to call in Luke for help. 

He could hear the urgency in Luke’s voice when he asked Lando to join him. He knew Luke had that new academy of his filled with Force-sensitive kids, many who had family connections to the rebel alliance and the New Republic and Luke would do anything to protect them, especially Ben.

Han had told him bits and pieces of their struggle raising Ben and dealing with his powers in the Force. He and Leia were worried and Luke was struggling to help his nephew. He could see the pain and agony in their eyes when they spoke with him about it because they all loved him so much, heck, Lando loved the kid. He remembered holo conversations with Han when Ben was a tot where he would call him Unca Wanwo. It stuck for a while but then Elle was taken and his whole life went to pot and Ben went off to Jedi training with Luke. He wondered if Luke would be bringing Ben along on this mission.

As he prepared his gear for the mission, he couldn’t help but think about his life with Rinetta and how happy they had been. He had to hope that when he returned to her, they could fix things, make things work.

He would never forget the day Rinetta walked back into his life. That day and the day Elle was born were two days that glow the brightest in his memories.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**11 ABY** ****

He and Han had just finished overseeing a mission and landed on Nakadia where Leia and Ben were staying while the Senate was in session with Han away. They had landed the Falcon at the spaceport and Han had headed off the ship first to greet Leia and Ben while he stayed behind to check on the ship and pack things up. As he made his way through the corridor, he heard a somewhat familiar voice talking to Han but couldn’t place it.

“This is the Millenium Falcon, though,” the woman spoke with an accent Lando knew but just couldn’t remember.

“Lady, it sure is. But Lando hasn’t owned this thing in a long time,” Han answered. Lando was thinking this must be some girl he crossed paths with in his younger days and was hesitant to make his presence known.

“Oh,” he heard the disappointment in her voice. “Is Elthree still co-piloting the ship or is she with Lando or-”

“Sweetheart, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Elthree perished decades ago,” his friend responded sadly.

“Oh my goodness, I didn’t know,” the woman’s voice cracked as she spoke as if she was about to cry. What woman did he know that would cry over the loss of Elthree? “Do you know how I could find Captain Calrissian?”

“Captain Calrissian?” Han asked, surprised at how the woman had addressed his friend. 

It was at that moment he knew who she was. He peaked out the ship a bit and his breath hitched. She was no longer that spunky annoying girl of thirteen, that was for sure. He stood back up, gathering himself to approach the breathtaking beauty he had just glimpsed. He sucked in his breath, checked his hair, straightened his cape, and thanked the maker he was wearing one of his newer ensembles.

He stepped down the ramp as Han said, “Who’s asking?”

“Princess Rinetta Gan of Hynestia,” Lando answered as he looked directly at her, taking all his strength to maintain composure and a look of easy cool confidence, though inside he was a melting hot mess of excitement and fear. He watched as a smile spread across her face. With a swagger in his step, he walked up to her and took her hand. “What a pleasure it is to lay my eyes on you after all this time.” He lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles.

“I see you have not changed much since we last saw one another,” she said bitingly. Lando winced slightly.

“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing,” he replied, his smirk returning to his face. It had been more than twenty years since he had last seen her. He knew how much he had changed from the man she met all those years ago.

“What happened to Elthree?” she asked as a hint of sadness washed over her face. He, too, felt sorrow in his heart at the thought of his old co-pilot. And he also remembered how much L3-37 liked this princess.

“Elthree, she--,” Lando paused to collect himself. “She died about a year after we met. She liberated a bunch of droids before that, though.”

“Of course she did,” Rinetta smiled and laughed at that. He could see tears glistening in her eyes.

“She is part of the Falcon, though,” Lando added. “I uploaded and integrated her data into the ship after she deactivated.”

“How fitting,” Rinetta looked up at the ship as if she were looking at Elthree, herself.

“What are you doing on Nakadia?” he asked.

“I came to observe the New Republic Senate,” she said. He could tell there was more she wanted to tell him but not in such a public place.

“I’m hungry, mom,” little Ben whined from atop his father’s shoulders, breaking through the haze of the reunion.

“Dinner is being prepared at our apartment as we speak, if you would like to join us, your highness,” Leia offered to Rinetta.

“Oh, I couldn’t,” the elegant woman before him responded. “And I am no longer a princess. My homeworld no longer exists.”

“Seems we have that in common,” Leia said with a sorrowful tone. “It would be an honor to have a friend of Lando’s join us.”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**12 ABY**

Lando was happy, truly happy for maybe the first time in his miserable scoundrel life. And he didn’t want to be a scoundrel anymore. He didn’t want to be a stooge for the New Republic either. He just wanted to spend every waking hour with Rinetta, more specifically lying naked with Rinetta, running his fingers along every curve of her amazing body.

During his time with Kaasha, there had been moments of happiness, but there had also been volatility, jealousy, and distrust on both sides. He never felt the complete and total trust and confidence in their relationship like he did with Rinetta. That was how he knew what he had with the Hynestian princess was real. Lando Calrissian was in love.

She rolled over to face him, their eyes locked. She had a serious expression on her face, one she got when she was plotting something and trying to gauge his reaction before explaining anything to him. Over the last year he had studied her, learned her like a lesson in school, but one he couldn’t stop studying. Couldn’t stop seeking more knowledge about the goddess before him. He loved her for all her perfections but found he loved her even more for all her flaws, the things that made her who she was, made her human, made her unique, made her Rinetta.

They had traveled all across the galaxy together on the _Lady Luck_ as he attended to business for the New Republic. They'd seen worlds together for the first time, but even more special to them were the old haunts. On a return trip to Neral's Moon he'd taught her to play Sabaac. They'd bet on pod racing, and taken rides through the canals to watch the bioluminescent Klinnet. He had suggested visiting their old friends on Livno III, but each time Rinetta would push it off, telling him they could visit later.

“Mmmm...good morning, love,” she spoke with heavy-lidded eyes.

“Good morning, princess,” he answered. He was the only person she allowed to call her that anymore. Maybe it was because he knew who she had been before her people lost their planet to the Empire. While Alderaan had been obliterated, Hynestia had been hijacked and stripped clean of all its resources, the Hynestian people fleeing, never to be heard from again. That is until Rinetta walked up to the Falcon on Nakadia a year ago. He had heard that the Empire had hunted down and killed her mother, Queen Forsythia Jin. And Rinetta had told him there were Hynestians hiding in a safe place, which was where she had been for the past two decades. But she wouldn't tell him where and he didn’t press her. He knew it was too important.

“Where are we headed today, my dear? Your turn to choose,” he told her. She placed her hand on the side of his face and brushed her thumb along his cheekbone.

“Nakadia.”

“Okay, but I’m not sure Han and Leia will be there. They spend most of their time at their family home on Chandrila.”

“Not to visit,” she responded. “To get my ship.” She had placed her ship in a long term storage hangar when they first left Nakadia together a year ago. Panic began to set into his chest. Was she leaving him? Had he missed something? Had he done something to offend her, hurt her? His mind raced through their interactions over the past days, weeks, and months, trying to find some clue as to why she would want to leave.

“But why--,” he started.

“I was thinking while I watched you sleep last night,” she paused as she ran her fingers gently from his temple to his chin, her eyes searching his face for something. His heart fluttered at her words and display of affection. “I need to head back to my people. I have been gone long enough and have decided we just can't risk being a part of the New Republic. It is too dangerous.”

“Okay, let’s go then.”

“Lando,” she looked right into his eyes, cupping her hands to the sides of his face, holding him there. “The past year has been the most wonderful time of my life. I never imagined I would feel this way about someone but now I realize--” She paused, looking down for a moment.

“I think I have been in love with you for much longer than I was willing to admit. I daydreamed about our paths crossing for years. I never forgot what you did for my friend all those years ago. I always just thought this right here, what is between us, was just a daydream. I never thought this would be so real.”

“Rinetta, this is the most real thing I have ever felt in my life. Where you go, I go.”

“Are you sure? I want you to come with me but I don’t want you to have to give up your job. Lando, you have responsibilities to the New Republic. You are a leader. People look up to you, rely on you. And it makes me so proud to see the difference you are making, the people you are helping. That is the Lando I remember from all those years ago, choosing to help me save a world and its people even if it meant doom for yourself.” He could see the tears shimmering in her eyes.

“I can do my work from anywhere in the galaxy. Nothing matters if I’m not with you,” he pleaded desperately.

“I feel the same except that I cannot expose my people like that. You are known throughout the galaxy. Frequent visits to an unknown planet would raise suspicions and bring trouble. You would not be able to return to anything in your old life. I love you too much to force you into a life where you would not be happy. Where you would not feel fulfilled,” she explained with a sadness in her voice. He knew she was right. There were still imperial remnants throughout the galaxy and at times he felt he had a target on his back. The New Republic “Heroes of Rebellion” campaign had not helped the situation.

“Then I quit,” he proclaimed. This was it. He was retiring from public service. He was retiring from everything. And she was completely worth it. A look of shock crossed Rinetta’s face as if she hadn’t anticipated this move.

“But your friends, your work--,” she questioned.

“--mean absolutely nothing without you in my life,” he finished, pulling her closer and touching his forehead to hers.

“You’d do that? Come with me knowing you can’t just skip from casino to casino around the galaxy,” she asked.

“I can teach the Hynestians a thing or two about Sabaac,” he jested with a crooked grin.

“I’m sure you could,” she laughed, her smile shooting a beam of light right to his soul.

“Rinetta,” he cupped her face with both of his hands. “I love you with all my being. I have never felt this way before in my life.”

“Neither have I,” she returned. “I love you as I’ve never loved anyone. But there is one other thing.”

“And what is that?” he asked, his tone laced with dread.

“I want a child. I want to be a mother,” she paused watching his reaction and adding, “is that something you want?”

He could feel his heart swelling in his chest. And just as she tucked her chin in and pulled her eyes away, he brought her right back to look at him.

“If you want that, I want that, too,” he beamed at her. “Then it is decided.”

“It is decided,” she whispered in his ear pulling him closer, pressing her soft smooth skin up against his chest. He hummed at the skin to skin contact.

“We will head to Nakadia, switch ships, and then…,” he looked at her questioningly with one eyebrow raised.

“I will tell you once we are on my ship,” she responded, still holding her cards close.

Days later, they landed together in her ship on a very familiar planet.

“I should have guessed,” he smiled at her as they walked down the ramp to set foot on Livno III, an old friend waiting at the end. Rinetta slid her hand into his, returning his smile as they walked to where the Lynnas and Hynestians stood near the landing pad.

“Captain Calrissian, to what do we owe the honor?” Zel Gris purred, her eyes gradually moving down to their joined hands. “To love, I take it.”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**13 ABY**

“It is a girl,” the midwife droid said as their baby was handed to his wife, the umbilical cord still attached. “Please pull down the front of your gown for skin-to-skin contact and attempt to allow the baby to latch.” The droid continued her instructions in a cold disjointed manner. But Lando could care less.

He only had eyes for the two girls he was beaming down at. His girls. He was filled with a sense of pride like none he ever felt. Pride in Rinetta for her strength and bravery throughout her childbirth and pride in the little person they had made together. He gently pushed back some of the sweaty curls stuck to Rinetta’s forehead and leaned down to kiss her there. She looked exhausted but at the same time, she glowed with the happiness and beauty of new motherhood. How did it end up that a woman as amazing as she could love a wretch like him?

As his wife adjusted the baby to her breast to nurse, he studied his wondrous baby girl, a thick head of black hair slicked to her head covered in the sticky white vernix. Her little eyes were squeezed tightly shut and he watched as her little lips worked to hold on to her mother’s breast. He had spent months leading up to the birth reading every baby resource he could find on his datapad so even though he wanted desperately to hold his baby girl, he knew how important it was that she latches in this window right after birth, how much it would help make nursing easier for Rinetta and the baby. So, he just observed and marveled at the wonder of it all.

Once the baby was latched, Rinetta caught his eyes and put her hand on his cheek.

“I love you,” she said softly and it was like she was saying it for the first time all over again.

“I love you, too,” he responded. “And the love I am feeling for her is--”

“--like nothing else,” Rinetta finished for him, part statement, part question as if checking to make sure they were feeling the same.

He nodded and could feel the tears start to spill down his cheeks. His wife smiled at him in a gesture of appreciation for the emotions they were sharing.

“What are we going to do about a name? I don’t think Landonis Balthazar junior would be fitting for her,” he chuckled. She laughed with him. They had not been able to agree on a name for a girl in all those months. Rinetta looked down at the babe suckling from her breast.

“Elle,” she said with firm confidence.

“Elle?”

“After Elthree,” his wife looked back up at him. “A strong fiercely independent woman who fought for freedom and died to save those she loved. What better person to be named after?”

“Elle. That’s perfect,” Lando agreed. “Elle Gan Calrissian.” She nodded in agreement.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**21 ABY**

As she walked through the market in Mos Eisley, she always kept her eyes peeled and her mind reached out to the Force. They occasionally caught glimpses of imperial remnant activity in Mos Eisley. But today, they were everywhere. She heard a ship overhead and froze. A thick heavy dark presence was on that ship. She had to find her husband. Their time on Tatooine was up.

As she hurried between the stalls toward the scrapyard where he was searching for moisture vaporator parts, she could feel the darkness enveloping her, pressing her down, making her limbs feel heavy like she was running through sand or mud. As she picked up the pace, she began shaming herself for letting their guard down too much. Her heart was racing.

Where was the junkyard? She could swear it was right around here somewhere. She reached out through the Force for her husband.

Suddenly, her head was covered and arms wrapped around her, dragging her down the alley she had seen to her left, the buzz of the street muffled in the distance. She began fighting, trying to use the Force to push her attacker back.

And then everything went black.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“Where is the child?” a strange voice hissed as he was drenched in cold water.

“I-I don’t know,” he rasped, struggling to open his eyes, his head pounding.

“Yes, you do!” the stranger shouted.

“No, we don’t know.” As his eyes adjusted, he could see his wife laying on the floor of the ship beside him, unconscious. “What did you do to her?”

“I only knocked her out this time, but if you do not tell me where the child is, I will kill her,” the stranger said as he pressed a dagger to her neck.

“No, no, please. We truly do not know,” he screamed in panic, his hands tied behind him. He recognized the carvings on the dagger. “My father sent you, didn’t he? I knew he wasn't dead.”

“If you cannot tell me where the child is, I will kill her,” he restated. “He wants the child to take her rightful place.”

“Never,” he shouted in defiance. And with that, the stranger dragged the blade across his wife’s neck, blood pouring out onto the floor. “Noooooo!”

Pulling power from the Force, he broke his restraints and shoved the stranger into the cockpit, smashing against the controls. He heard the ship begin to scream sirens of warning. And then he felt it, the searing pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he saw the dagger protruding from his gut, hearing the stranger let out a maddening laugh, ship damaged and hissing behind him.

As he stumbled back and slid to the ground next to his wife, he found a final peace in the fact that Rey was still safe.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

Ben sat straight up in his cot. Someone was screaming. He ran out of his hut and down to the bunkhouse where the younger padawans slept. He could feel pain, loss, and emptiness echoing through the Force as he ran. Reaching the door, he flung it open with a flick of his wrist.

All the padawans were awake trying to take cover from the flying objects whipping through the room, frightened looks painted their faces. The only one still laying down was Rey, a bloodcurdling scream coming from her as she thrashed in her bedding.

He ran to her side, reaching out through their bond to soothe her mind. When he grabbed her shoulders, he saw it all. He saw her parents laying in pools of blood on a ship, an alien figure standing over them, engraved dagger in hand, blood dripping from it.

“Rey, wake up,” he shouted to her, shaking her. Her eyes shot open.

“Ben,” she looked up at him with a painful expression. His little Rey who was always so full of brightness and positive energy, he couldn’t see any of that at this moment. Just deep utter sadness and anger. He felt the darkness creeping into her mind. She said with a sob, “They’re gone.”

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**21 ABY**

The day Elle was born changed his world. He had heard Han and Leia talk about unconditional love and while he was polite to his friends, in his mind he dismissed it as a myth, But now he felt like Han discovering the Force is real. Because he would love that little girl for the rest of his life no matter what happened or who she became.

As he followed Luke’s X-wing into Pasaana’s atmosphere, he was hoping with all his might that this was the lead he was looking for, the clue that would bring him closer to finding his daughter.

Landing the Lady Luck near a small village, they began chatting up some locals. There was a calm and peacefulness among the Aki-Aki that reminded him of home, reminded him of the Lynna.

“Are you sure the ship is abandoned?” he heard Luke ask.

“There’s an abandoned ship? How long has it been there?” Lando asked his friend.

“They say it crashed out in the desert not too far from here about a standard month or so ago. Sounds like the description of the ship your contacts gave us,” Luke answered. “The locals went to see if anyone needed assistance but by the time they arrived at the crash site, there was no one to be found.”

“Well, we are looking for an artifact and it could still be on the ship.”

“Yes, it could. I asked if they had found anything of interest and the answer was no, but we can try.”

They borrowed a speeder and headed out to the crash site. They spent hours combing the area looking for debris. The search inside the ship was just as fruitless, except for the remnants of dried blood on the floor that had been hastily cleaned.

Defeated, they headed back to the village. Luke stood next to his X-wing, preparing to head back to the Jedi temple.

“You are welcome to come back to the temple. We can debrief there and then figure out our next move,” Luke offered.

Lando looked out over the village. It was peaceful, serene. He realized at that moment, he had lost hope. It had been six long disappointing years and he was no closer to finding Elle than the day he left Livno III. He and Rinetta had argued that day. She had said things to him that he knew she didn’t mean but in the moment, they had cut him like a knife. She had blamed him for Elle’s kidnapping, that whoever took her was after him, wanted to get revenge on him. And she wasn’t all that wrong. He knew his hope was gone and he could never face Rinetta empty-handed. She was better off without him. He would only bring pain to her, remind her of what she had lost. They could never be the same.

“I think I’m gonna stay here,” he told his friend.

“You think you might be able to pick up some more clues from that ship?” Luke shook his head. “We swept that thing pretty good. I don’t think there’s anything else there.”

“No,” Lando turned and looked him in the eyes. “I’m going to stay here and find peace if that is possible for me.”

A little while later, as he watched Luke's X-Wing disappear out of the atmosphere, he closed his eyes and imagined a chubby little toddler waddling toward him, arms reaching up, her thick curly hair as free as her little personality. He could swear he heard a small voice on the wind call him Papa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried writing this chapter. Partially because I am a mom and partially because I'm a hopeless romantic. I have a whole headcanon about Lando and his two lady loves (his wife and daughter) and really wanted to weave it into this story because it is just another example of how Palpatine destroyed the happiness of the Rebel alliance leaders. Ben Solo was not the only child stolen from his parents (Palps was trying to manipulate him in the womb, you guys! So scary from a parent's perspective.)
> 
> I listened to a whole lot of Childish Gambino while I wrote this chapter.
> 
> Come say hi on Tumblr at sapphire-reverie
> 
> I would really love to read your thoughts on this chapter. Thank you for reading as always!!!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Master Luke and I need help,” Leia said over the holoprojector to the padawans gathered in the temple sanctuary. “There are more of you arriving regularly and we cannot do this alone. We have discussed a plan of action. I will see some of you in a few days on Hosnian Prime for the statue unveiling ceremony, some of you will stay back to protect the younglings, and Luke has a mission for the older padawans. I’ll leave it to him to explain. May the Force Be With You.” The holoprojector went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you so much for all your kudos, bookmarks, and subscriptions. Your comments are fuel for my writing and keep this story going.
> 
> So now we had 13-year-old Rey and 23-year-old Ben. We start this second act a few days before the events of the novel Bloodline.
> 
> Come say hi on Tumblr at sapphire-reverie

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

**28 ABY**

Rey held her position as she and Voe crossed blades, a greenish glow reflecting from the other girl’s face. Voe had become her frequent sparring partner over the years, a Jedi she could look up to. There were other girls in the academy at the temple, but she was one of the oldest and most experienced and Rey knew she had much to learn from her.

She remembers meeting Voe the day she arrived with Ben and Master Luke. Leia had been helping her settle into the bunkhouse with the other younglings, tucking her new clothes into drawers and setting out her precious few sentimental objects on a table by her bed. While all the guys went off to eat, Voe had joined Leia and Rey, asking the senator what seemed like a bazillion questions about the Galactic Civil War and Master Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

After Leia and Han took off back to Nakadia, Voe wrapped her arms around Rey’s shoulders and whispered in her ear.

“Us girls,” she leaned down to whisper in Rey’s ear, “we gotta stick together.”

So, there they were, years later, blades stuck together, Rey still using a borrowed blade from ones Master Luke had salvaged over the years. She still had not found her crystal and while older blades called to some of her fellow younglings and padawans, it had yet to happen for Rey.

“Rey!” she heard Ben shout across the training yard.

She and Voe simultaneously switched off their sabers.

“What does he want now?” Voe exhaled rhetorically. “I tell you, it’s like he’s jealous of our girl time or something.” Rey watched the older girl’s eyes roll as she went over to her rucksack to grab her canteen.

Rey placed the lightsaber hilt back into the training weaponry storage unit.

“I think he’s just coming to let me know that Leia should be calling soon on the holoprojector,” Rey said as she studied the varying shapes and sizes of the hilts on the wall, already knowing exactly what Ben was calling her for.

And if anyone was jealous, it was Voe. She wore it on her sleeve, her envy for Rey and Ben’s strength in the Force, for their bond. When Rey had arrived years back, she could tell Voe was seeking a connection. Most of the younglings and padawans at that time were male and Rey’s arrival was like getting a little sister as a birthday gift.

Rey had heard Voe’s story numerous times from many of the older padawans over the years. When Ben was ten years old, he joined his uncle at his newly founded Jedi temple, which was an old Jedi temple rediscovered. That first year there were just seven younglings and padawans, which included Ben’s closest friends Tai and Hennix, as well as Voe. They were the oldest of the students at that time. By the time Rey arrived five years later, a couple dozen more kids had joined Master Luke. Many of the children had backstories similar to Rey and Voe: orphaned, abandoned, or neglected. Sometimes it seemed like Ben was the only Jedi at the temple with a somewhat stable family and two parents that loved him. Whenever Ben began to sulk about his parents ignoring him, Rey would gently remind him of their love. She would also comm Leia or Han to let them know it was time for a visit, doing all she could to keep their family together.

But Voe was abandoned. Her parents had fled the Empire’s takeover of her home planet during the Galactic Civil War. They lived in hiding with the others from her home planet for many years. As Voe began to display her Force abilities, they became fearful that the Imperial Remnants would come after her, exposing their hiding place. They had heard stories of children being stolen and villages being slaughtered. One day, they found Luke Skywalker and left her with him, never to return or contact her again.

Voe’s jealousy of Ben Solo went far beyond Force abilities. But as Rey had gotten older, she couldn’t help but wonder if her friend held other feelings toward Ben. At twenty-three, Ben was no longer the gawky teen she first met. Rey knew her friend was a handsome guy, tall, broad muscular shoulders, brooding expression. She saw how girls looked at him. The last time they visited Leia at her office on Hosnian Prime, she remembered how Korrie, the senator’s young intern, batted her eyelashes at him and became a nervous fumbling mess. But Ben was oblivious, whether it was a teenage girl like Korrie or a woman his age like Voe. He seemed dedicated to following Master Luke’s monastic Jedi path.

But there was someone. Someone in his mind that he felt love for. Romantic love, unlike the love he had for his family. One time a few years back, she woke up in the middle of the night and knew Ben was having a nightmare. Like the two of them had been doing for one another since the night Rey’s parents died, she tip-toed to his quarters and slipped in to check on him. His emotions seeped through their connection. While they had gotten good at shielding their thoughts from one another, they still could not hide their feelings. She knew when he was angry, sad, frustrated, and on rare occasions, happy. He was also afraid. In this nightmare, the fear was overwhelming, mixed with an aching sense of love and heartbreak. 

She placed her hand gently on his and was immediately jolted into his mind. There was snow everywhere and the ground seemed to be quaking. In front of her was a young woman holding a blue lightsaber, difficult to make out features through the falling snow. But she could sense that Ben loved her. That this was someone he deeply cared about. 

_Bring her to me_ , she heard a familiar voice command in a malevolent tone.

She knew that voice. She had heard that voice before, haunting Ben in their shared visions.

And just as quickly as she had entered, she was shot back to the reality of Ben’s room. He was grasping at her arm, holding tight. Even in the dark, she could see his eyes wide with fear. All he said was, “Rey”.

She sat with him, holding his hand until he returned to sleep, and then she crept back into her room and her bed, something that had become routine for the two of them, a favor they paid back and forth, a way to cope together. But she never forgot about the woman she saw that particular time and how Ben felt about her. Each time a ship landed at the temple, Rey watched to see if the woman would walk off and into their lives, to join the New Jedi Order. Part of her wanted that for Ben, to find his love. But part of her hoped it never happened and she felt guilty for such a selfish thought.

“Rey,” Ben said her name as he approached the training yard, pulling her out of her reverie. “My mom will be calling on the holoprojector any minute and will want to talk to both of us before we meet for the mission briefing.” Rey glanced at Voe, tilting her head with a told-you-so expression.

“Got it, Benny,” Rey shot one of her big grins at him as she skipped ahead toward his hut.

“That girl has too much energy sometimes,” she heard Voe say to Ben.

“Sometimes? You mean, all the time,” she heard him respond.

⫷⫷⫷⫸⫸⫸

“Master Luke and I need help,” his mother said over the holoprojector to the padawans gathered in the temple sanctuary. “There are more of you arriving regularly and we cannot do this alone. We have discussed a plan of action. I will see some of you in a few days on Hosnian Prime for the statue unveiling ceremony, some of you will stay back to protect the younglings, and Luke has a mission for the older padawans. I’ll leave it to him to explain. May the Force be with you.” The holoprojector went dark.

For the past eight years, his mother had taken a more active role in the Jedi temple. Realizing her brother’s endeavor was getting too big for him to handle alone with no other experienced Force-sensitive individuals to help, she did what she could when not occupied with senate business. She gave lectures on diplomacy and strategies for negotiations and lent an ear when the kids needed to talk. While she adamantly refused the title of Jedi, she occasionally picked up her saber to help with training when she visited. A saber Ben was shocked to discover his mother had, that she had gone through Jedi training herself. There had been so many secrets revealed to him upon Rey’s arrival in his life.

And even more secrets the day Luke returned after she had dreamt of her parents’ deaths. That was the day they found out why her parents died, why the Force was so strong in them and their families. It was the day they learned the secret that brought sense to his inner turmoil and an explanation for the overprotectiveness and fear within his family. It was the day he and Rey learned their grandfathers were Sith lords.

These were secrets that were to remain secrets beyond the Jedi Order and his family. But Leia and Luke had agreed that secrecy within the Old Jedi Order contributed to its downfall. Ben could tell that Master Luke's honesty with the padawans had earned respect instead of fear that his uncle had assumed they would feel.

As they sat in the mission briefing, all the padawans’ eyes were now focused respectfully on their master sitting in a meditative pose in the circle.

“I am sending Voe, Hennix, and Tai to attempt to find Jedi who survived Order 66. Through our missions to collect Jedi artifacts and history, we have found clues leading us to believe that Master Obi-Wan and Master Yoda were not the only ones to survive. We need their help,” Luke explained.

“Who are they?” Rey asked full of curiosity.

“We found evidence to prove that one of them survived to fight in the Galactic Civil War,” Ben answered, chiming in with the information from his research. “She is the one I’m most curious to find. She was my grandfather’s apprentice.” Looks of surprise and awe spread across the younger padawans' faces.

“Ahsoka Tano?!” Rey exclaimed. The holocrons they had found of the old Togruta Jedi were some of Rey’s favorite. She was especially fascinated by the fact that the woman wielded two lightsabers. Ben smiled at her, pleased that his research brought her excitement.

“But she may be the hardest to find,” Luke interjected. “There is also Quinlan Vos. I believe he would be of great help to you two.” Luke nodded toward Ben and Rey. Since finding Rey, Luke’s mission had been to access as much knowledge as he could find about balancing the light and the dark within, especially for a Force-bonded pair. He knew this would be the key to protecting them from their ancestors’ fates.

“Wasn’t he a Sith with the Separatists during the Clone Wars?” Hennix asked hesitantly.

“He was but he was a Jedi first and a Jedi last. And remember, the battle lines of that war were not so clear cut. If he is still alive, we could learn much from him about balancing the light and the dark,” Tai added encouragingly, always one to find a positive outlook.

“There are two others but they would be very old by now and even if they survived the Clone Wars, they may not be with us any longer,” Luke explained. “Jocasta Nu was the librarian at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and would be a wealth of knowledge, invaluable to us all. The other is a former padawan who left the order before the Clone Wars. I have it on good authority that Naq Med went on to have a family. Even if he didn’t survive, we may find some clues with his family.”

“So, Ben and Tai have gathered the historical data and Hennix has mapped out a travel plan. Voe will be piloting the _Verity_ for that mission,” his uncle instructed.

“Who will be traveling to Hosnian Prime?” Ben asked as he looked around to see expressions of hopefulness on a number of the padawans’ faces.

“While the primary objective of that mission will be outreach and goodwill, showing support for Senator Organa in addition to Ben, whose grandfather is being honored,” Luke paused, looking directly into his eyes and then over to Rey and the younger padawans. “The secondary objective will be to find crystals for those of you ready to build your sabers.” 

Ben could feel waves of excitement emanating off Rey. When he glanced at her, she was fighting back a huge grin, a sparkle in her hazel eyes that she always got when she was enthusiastic about something. He could feel his lips curl up in a small smile. She always did that to him, made him smile when he didn’t want to or when he least expected it. Her happiness was infectious. She had brought that into his life, a life that had been filled with fear, anger, and sadness. Rey had the power to put him at ease and make him see the good things in his life as no one else could.

His uncle droned on through the details of the missions and instructions for those staying behind, warning them that Artoo would be recording their every move.

As they walked out of the temple, Rey skipped up to his side.

“So, do you think I’m gonna have any luck this time?”

“I hope so, Rey. I’m sick of hearing you complain about the training sabers,” he smiled down at her as she looked up with that big goofy grin she had been trying to hide earlier.

“I don’t complain.”

“Yes, you do,” Voe said as she walked passed them.

“Hey, I thought us girls had to stick together,” Rey shouted at her friend in jest.

“Supposedly, Master Luke is taking us to Ilum. It is where the Old Jedi Order took younglings to find their crystals before the fall,” Ben explained in a quiet voice, only for Rey’s ears.

“Really?! Why haven’t we tried going their before?”

“Luke says he doesn’t have the greatest feeling when he meditates on it and he has wanted to go for years but keeps putting it off. But he also thinks it may be the reason you have not found your crystal yet so he said it is time to try.”

“You know, before that bit of info, I was a little jealous of Voe and her mission,” Rey said. “But now, our mission has gotten a bit more exciting.” As they walked across the grounds side-by-side, she tilted her head to the side and turned her eyes up to him as if asking a question. Asking if he agreed with her.

He answered with a smile he always reserved just for her, wrapping his arm across the back of her shoulders and tugging her in for half a hug.

“Let’s go meditate,” he suggested.

“Okay,” she chirped as they headed down by the edge of the lake.

**Author's Note:**

> Warning spoilers ahead--
> 
> A Timeline:  
> 5 ABY - Birth of Ben Solo  
> 11 ABY - Lando reunites with Rinetta Gan  
> 12 ABY - Lando and Rinetta settle on Livno III  
> 13 ABY - Birth of Elle Calrissian, Lando's daughter  
> 15 ABY - Birth of Rey Palpatine, Elle Calrissian is kidnapped by the First Order  
> 20 ABY - Rey is separated from her parents and taken in by the Organa/Solo/Skywalker family  
> 21 ABY - Rey's parents are murdered by Sith Loyalist Ochi, Lando becomes a hermit on Pasaana  
> 28 ABY - Bail Organa Statue unveiling ceremony  
> 34 ABY - Unveiling of Starkiller Base


End file.
